


Sturmgeboren

by SensiblePsychopath



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Pirate, At this point i can call it humor to cope i guess, Domestic Violence, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Humor, I'll add tags as we go, It's pretended but i'll still tag it as a tw i guess, M/M, Medieval Germany, Necromancy, Toxic Friendships, Toxic Relationships, Witchcraft, dark!Mercy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-10-23 00:24:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 40,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17672906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SensiblePsychopath/pseuds/SensiblePsychopath
Summary: “You are accused of raiding in many cases, abduction of clergymen and their murder, of hiding a prisoner in an action against the city of Hamburg, as well as escaping imprisonment yourself. Furthermore, you are accused of stealing with the motive of greed, abducting sons from their mothers to use for your purposes and bribing of city officials as well as common folk.”“That is a rather short list if you ask me. You must have missed something.” The voice was clearly taunting, her smile not faltering even at the clear prospect of death. A kick to the back of her knees sent her tumbling down, still she kept on smiling, looking at the men and women that would face death with her.“The city of Rozstock sentences you to death by decapitation,” the voice boomed, and the crowd broke into cheers.Somewhere close to the edge of the market square a man turned his back to the crowd, hiding his face in the shadow of his hood as he stepped into the closest tavern.





	1. Freedom in our Veins

**Author's Note:**

> If you’ve read anything I wrote, ever, here or on other accounts, you know I love to write ooc so no promises of this not being ooc. I could probably make promises of this being ooc all the way through tbh. This is the ‘Pirate in medieval Germany AU’ that no one asked for, but that I am giving to you anyway.
> 
> Also, Katherine Hane was killed in 1444, Klaus Störtebeker in 1401, both are mentioned alive here. I know these things, but I want to add them together so I am. Fight me.
> 
> Funfact: Hover over the Links (-Number-) to read my notes. On mobile you might be able to "long click" so the popup opens (it says "open link in new tab" and the like), the popup should have a url with my notes in it somewhere. If none of this works they are at the end of the chapter, as well.
> 
> If you really don't like Dark!Mercy maybe you shouldn't read this fic, just a warning. I also don't exactly know how to write "old" in English so I didn't even try that, it's better that way, believe me!
> 
> Enjoy!

“What are you accused of?” The boy she was sharing the small dungeon room with couldn’t be older than thirteen. He looked curious but also like he was terrified. Which probably was the right emotion for a place like this. The latter one, that was.

Angela turned her head slowly to look at him. She was surprised that he had found it in him to talk to her. “They think I murdered my husband after making a deal with the devil.”

“Did you?” He seemed to try to melt into the wall his back was pressed against.

Angela crossed one leg over the other and adjusted her skirts. “No.”

“Oh,” he looked up at the ceiling. “Do you think they’ll kill you?”

“Yes,” her voice was level, cold almost.

“But … if you’re innocent? Why didn’t you fight them when they brought you in here?”

He had been sitting in the same spot he was in now when they had brought her in the night before. He hadn’t dared to move, except for when they had brought some food for them. Bread and water, Angela had left all of the bread to the boy.

He wasn’t able to hide his slight awe and surprise when she pulled off her coif, revealing all of her blonde hair.

“He wasn’t my husband.”

“What?” The boy’s voice was thin, barely there.

“The man I killed, he wasn’t my husband.”

“Why did you kill him?” He whispered.

Angela smiled coldly. “He hit me.” She watched the confused face of the kid. “Respect people, no matter who they are,” she instructed.

“I won’t have time to,” he said, looking to the ground.

“When I get out of here I’ll take you with me.”

The boy stared at the stone on the ground, still confused but not daring to say anything.

She looked at him for another moment, then she pulled out a leather pouch from one of the pockets sewn into her underskirts and opened it. She turned it on its side and shook out four Goldgulden[(1)](One%20Goldgulden%20would%20be%20worth%20about%20330%E2%82%AC%20today,%20from%20what%20I%20could%20find%20on%20the%20internet.). She looked up to the boy still sitting in his spot against the wall, the small sliver of sun that fell through the window slowly inching closer to him. She stashed be bag between her skirts again and got up swiftly, dusting off her dress briefly and stepping toward the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the kid watching her now.

Angela raised her right hand, the one not holding the coins, to the wooden door and knocked the side of her fist against it firmly, four times.

“Shut it!” Someone called from down the hall, sounding annoyed already.

Angela knocked again, another four times.

“I told you to stop!”

“And I respectfully request your presence!” she called back as sweetly as she could, her face not matching the sound of her voice at all. “I have a proposition to make!”

There was a faint sound of wood scratching against the rough stone of the floor, then heavy footsteps.

As the footsteps drew closer to the door and stopped Angela stepped back a little. The small window in the door was opened and the scruffy, angry looking man that had thrown her into the hole of a room looked at her.

When he didn’t move to speak she did so instead. “We would like to leave today.”

He kept staring at her.

She sighed and leaned a bit closer to him. “How much?”

“You can’t pay me to let you go.”

“Can I bribe you to move us into another room?”

“Us?”

“The boy and me.”

“Why him?”

“Motherly feelings,” she said, looking at the boy fondly.

“Why?”

“I miss my husband.”

“Your friend killed your husband.”

“That man wasn’t my husband,” she said, looking down.

The guard kept staring, looking past her at the boy that looked terrified as ever. “No,” he said, moving to close the window again.

Quickly, Angela put one of the coins into her right hand and held it into the man’s field of vision. He stopped in his movements, looking at her through squinted eyes.

She stretched out her arm balancing the coin on the thick wood of the door, right in the middle of the window. She put her hand back down slowly, never taking her eyes off of the guard, who did the same to the coin.

“Move us,” she demanded.

He stood unmoved, she sighed. It caught his attention, catching the movement of her balancing another coin on top of the first one. “I’m not asking to go free.”

“Your lover is in good company.”

“Bring us to him.”

The guard hesitated another second, then he swiped up the coins quickly and closed the small window. Keys jiggled then the door was dragged open slowly. “Get out.”

Angela stepped out of the room, slipping the remaining coins into her pocket. She heard the boy struggling to get to his feet, running after her and getting to her other side, closest to the wall. The door was left open as the guard shoved her at the shoulder a bit to signal her to move down the hall.

They left the hall, going to the right, then immediately left again. She added the halls to the mental map she had drawn the first time she had walked in.

“Stop,” the guard demanded and opened a door that looked like a perfect duplicate of the one they had just left behind a few moments prior. He opened it, hanging his weight into it to do so and motioned to Angela to get in.

She took a look into the room, laying eyes onto the man she had been looking for immediately. She stepped in, trusting that the boy would follow her once again. The door slammed shut the moment she sank onto the ground, moving a hand to signal the boy to sit next to her.

She looked around the room. There were two more men, one looking aggressive and one that was obviously dying. Not slowly, either. The fever was obvious on him, she had smelled it as soon as the door had been opened.

“Who are your friends?” the first man asked, obviously not addressing Angela.

Angela looked to the left, curious for the answer as well.

“Is that the girl you killed a man over? I get it, I get it,” the man said when he didn’t get an answer.

“What do you care?”

“Gabriel,” Angela looked at him, waiting for him to turn his head to face her. “Who is usually bringing your food?”

“The young one.”

“Good.”

“Who is the kid?”

“I found him, he’s a thief.”

The boy’s head whipped around, looking at both of them. “How did you know?”

“Thieves don’t get locked up with murderers,” Gabriel told Angela.

“They do if they aren’t first-time offenders.”

Gabriel’s hand shot past Angela, grabbing the kid’s head and turning it, looking at both his ears. “Fine.” He pulled his hand back. “What do we do with him?”

“Get him out.”

“Why?”

“I feel generous today.”

He looked at her cooly. “Right. We know how well that goes.”

“Don’t bring it up again, Gabriel, I swear I’ll…”

“What? Kill me? Destroy your work?”

Angela sighed and followed the small plume of misty smoke that seemed to try to escape from Gabriel’s neck with her eyes. “Just … let’s not right now.”

“Excuse me miss,” the boy piped up, to everyone’s surprise.

“Who killed the man?”

“What?” she asked.

“You said you killed him, the man said your friend killed him. Who did?”

Gabriel answered before Angela could. “What do you care?”

The boy tried to become one with the wall again.

“What's your name?” Angela asked, waiting for the kid to realize he was being talked to.

“Hinrich, miss.”

“You don't tell a witch your name,” the man barked from across the room.

Angela stared at him with cold hatred. “This is nothing concerning you.”

Hinrich stared at the man, then back to Angela, mouth slightly agape. “Witch?”

“Sure,” the man laughed, “that's why they locked her up. I heard the guards talk about it.”

“I…”

Angela sighed. “Do you want to get out of this place?” she asked, ignoring the man.

Hinrich nodded, though he was uncertain.

“Then you should not care about how I am getting you there.”

“But I don't- What will you want in return?”

Gabriel had been following the conversation almost distant. Now he opened his eyes and looked at Angela, curiosity had clearly been sparked in him as well.

Angela brushed a piece of her once neatly put up hair out of her face and touched her fingers lightly over the silver comb on the back of her head.

Gabriel followed the movement with his eyes and sighed, closing his eyes again and leaning his head back against the stone wall.

“I want neither your life nor your holy soul. Take it or be left behind,” she offered and slid down more against the wall to make her stay as comfortable as she could.

He didn’t seem fully convinced that he did want to pay the price she would ask of him, but he would rather make it outside than die in one of the dungeons.

“What do we do now?” Hinrich asked.

“We wait.”

He still looked concerned but he had gotten very talented when it came to waiting. So he made himself look as small as he could in the corner of the room and watched the two men sitting against the other walls of the dungeon room.

The sick man didn't cough. He didn't move either. Hinrich didn't know what was happening to the man, but he guessed it was a punishment sent by God for whatever the man had done.

The other man watched Gabriel and the woman closely as if he was expecting them to do something to him. It was dumb, they didn't seem like violent people.

Her dress wasn't that of a woman born into aristocracy but it was more expensive than the linen his mother had worn. She had paid the guard with more money than Hinrich had ever held, as well.

As for the man, Gabriel, he was dressed well but not too well to be worth stepping aside for in the streets. When he had grabbed for Hinrich his movement had been sure and strong, but not aggressive or violent. Hinrich just didn't believe they were violent people.

He might have already forgotten about them being accused of killing a man.

“Will you tell me the plan?” Hinrich asked carefully.

“No.”

Angela shivered, pulling her knees up to her torso and hugging them for warmth. Next to her, Gabriel shifted, shaking his cloak off of his arms and placing it over her shoulders, willing the dusting of mist that fell off of his arms to bind with his flesh again.

It was cool on the inside but warmed up with Angela's body quickly. She smiled faintly at him.

Gabriel glanced at Angela from the corner of his eyes and looked at the sliver of sunlight. “They better get us something to eat soon,” he said, sounding grim.

Angela looked at him shrugging one shoulder. “They will. Just a little more patience.”

He made a scoffing sound, looking at the door before closing his eyes again.

 

* * *

 

When the door was opened roughly Angela slipped off the cloak, got to her feet quickly and gracefully, even before the guard barked at her to come to get her ‘friend's’ food.

She pulled on the red stone adorning the silver ring she was wearing on her right hand, revealing a small hollow point filled with black powder and dropped the powder into the water when the guard was busy getting the bread out of his bag. She set the jug of water down in the room, just around the corner.

It was, indeed, the younger of the two guards she had seen. She stepped forward as he was turning back to her to give her the bread and stepped into his personal space, whispering close to him. “If you unlock the door an hour after nightfall I'll leave something shiny for you.”

He didn't even skip a beat. “How much?”

“Two Goldgulden now, two when I leave.”

He grabbed for her hand placing the bread in it, holding both her hand and the bread until she held up the other with the promised money. He took it without looking at it and stepped back, waiting for her to step back into the room.

She broke the bread into three pieces and gave one of them to Hinrich as the door was locked behind her.

She brought the other two to the men on the other side of the room, the one not currently in a fever taking both of them.

Hinrich reached for the water but Gabriel was quicker. “Don't,” he instructed. “The water here is dirty.”

“The whole city has dirty water,” the man said, striding over for the first time. “What are you? Too good for water?”

Gabriel let him snatch the jug from his hand and watched him with a level gaze. “Take it if you want it. We don't.”

Angela took her place next to Gabriel again and watched the kid and the man eat, letting Gabriel drape the cloak back over her.

“I'm thirsty,” Hinrich complained after just a few minutes.

“Come get some,” the man said, washing down the bread with some of the water.

Hinrich looked torn. He turned his head to look at Angela who only shrugged her shoulders. He looked at Gabriel next, catching his eye. Gabriel shook his head, the movement was so small that Hinrich wasn't sure it had been there at all.

Hinrich remained seated.

“Are you bribing us out of here?” he asked, chewing on the last of his bread.

“Wouldn't we be out of here already if she could do that? Not everyone can be paid off.”

Angela's hand twitched.

Gabriel shook his head, making a humming sound that seemed to soothe her.

The man had finished his dinner quickly, night almost falling already. Judging by the light Angela guessed the sun had set already. It would get dark soon.

She willed her body to relax, sitting upright against the cold stone. It was getting really chilly, not that the dungeon room ever really warmed up. She pulled her legs in to get as much of herself under the cloak as she could.

She watched the man make himself as comfortable as he could while lying on the cold floor. He was out cold less than ten minutes after finishing his meal, putting a smile on Angela’s face.

“Are you sure it wasn’t too much for him?”

“I know what I’m doing, don’t you think?”

Gabriel looked at her with doubt written clearly on his face. “Mostly you do.”

“And you come along for the other times.”

“I thought you’re keeping me around because you like my face.”

She grinned at him. “Actually, you make for a great shield, that’s it.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” he said, smiling slightly. It didn’t look real to anyone.

Gabriel cracked the joints in his neck before getting to his feet and stretching out his stiff muscles, cracking every joint that would - running down his entire spine then all his fingers.

“Rigor mortis set in already?” Angela asked, still grinning.

The only answer she got was a sound of annoyance while Gabriel was stretching.

“What is that?” Hinrich asked.

“After you die at some point your muscles stay contracted and get stiff,” Angela explained patiently, looking at Hinrich who was staring at Gabriel.

“It was a joke,” Gabriel explained when he noticed the confused look on the boy’s face.

Hinrich nodded. He looked intimidated both by the big words Angela was throwing around and Gabriel seemed to understand just as well, but also by Gabriel himself. His brother had been tall, too, but not as broad-shouldered as Gabriel. Hinrich wondered how the guards managed to take him in in the first place.

When he felt less stiff Gabriel moved across the room and nudged the man with his boot. Cautious at first, then harder. “He’s not waking up anytime soon.”

“Stay behind if you need to,” Angela said as the footsteps sounded outside of the door again. The lock was snapped back but the door stayed closed in place. She brushed her dress off, making it fall nicely around her hips again and fastened the cloak properly, then she stepped up to the door, trying it. It was heavy but it moved under her weight. As soon as it moved she reached into her pocket to place down the golden coins next to the door. She looked at Gabriel who had his back turned toward her still. They both knew he was doing alright, but when there was an option to do even better … who wouldn’t want to take that? They were closing in on a full moon, as well.

“Hinrich, get up,” she said and stepped outside of the door. Hinrich looked back at Gabriel but slipped out just after Angela.

“What is he doing?” Hinrich whispered, staying close to Angela.

Angela looked at Hinrich as a sickeningly loud crack resounded from inside the room. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, watching Hinrich go pale.

He didn’t know what was happening and he was sure he didn’t really want to, so he didn’t ask a second time.

Suddenly Gabriel was standing next to them in the hallway. He nodded towards them and took the lead, taking a cautious look around the first corner. When he didn’t see or hear anyone he quickly walked further in the same direction, leading them towards a winding stairway.

“Up?” he asked, turning towards Angela.

She motioned for him to continue and Hinrich wondered how he saw it in the very dim light that was thrown by the torches far behind them.

When he stepped onto the first step Hinrich couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black and he had to put both of his hands against the walls to not trip. The footsteps both in front of and behind him were sure and comforting.

“Give us your hands,” Gabriel instructed, grabbing his hand without much struggle. Hinrich searched for Angela’s a moment longer but found it eventually.

The steps ended almost right after that, evening out to another straight hallway. Hinrich tried to see anything but failed.

They stopped suddenly and Hinrich heard another door open, then it wasn’t so dark anymore.

“I expected more than this,” Gabriel admitted and let go of Hinrich’s hand. They stepped outside and Gabriel closed the door behind them. Angela had a look around, searching for a way out.

They had gotten on the ground level in the middle of the yard. There were high walls everywhere Hinrich could see, but there was a huge gateway as well. Open. No guards. Could it really be that easy?

The answer turned out to be yes.

When they left the prison building at a pace that didn’t indicate any hurry at all no one tried to stop them. They made their way into a side street Hinrich recognized. He had been pickpocketing around there all his life. It was a street ending in a dead end.

Angela stopped them in the shadow of one of the taller buildings. Gabriel leaned against the wall crossing his arms in front of his chest and watching the only way that people could come from towards them.

Hinrich shivered.

“Don’t be afraid. It’s a small sacrifice I am asking from you, nothing in comparison to your life, really.” Angela sounded reassuring.

The light of the nearly full moon gave away how scared he looked. Angela lifted her gaze up to the silver disc in the sky and smiled.

“Nothing you don't have permission for, remember,” Gabriel said. His voice was cold and he sounded more tired than anything else.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Angela answered.

“Someone _should_ have told you two summers ago,” he said just as low, he sounded a bit more angry than tired this time.

“It was my first human try! What do you expect?”

“I didn’t _ask_ for this,” he said.

“We’ve been over this.”

“I know.”

“Where was I?” she asked, looking at Hinrich. “Right. It’s not going to affect your precious soul and you won’t die.”

“Probably,” Gabriel threw in. It wasn’t loud enough for Hinrich to hear, but Angela had expected it.

The boy nodded, his eyes huge. He tried to hide in the shadow of the house, but he knew it was no use.

Angela reached up around to the back of her head and pulled the comb out of her hair. She pulled the red ribbon with it, letting her hair fall over her shoulders loosely.

“Your hair is really pretty.”

“Thank you,” she said smiling brightly, tugging the ribbon into the top of her dress and taking the red stone in the middle of the comb between two fingers. She pulled on it until it came loose.

Hinrich’s eyes seemed to grow even bigger as he recognized the small dagger that had been hidden in the middle tooth of the comb. It was about the length of her finger and looked very delicate, but no doubt robust enough to kill a person with if done right.

“Please give me your arm,” she said, reaching into one of her pockets taking out a small bottle.

Hesitantly Hinrich pushed up his sleeve and held out his arm, expecting the cut but still flinching at the stinging pain. Curiously he watched as she held the bottle to his arm, catching his blood.

“What do you need my blood for?”

“Do you know what necromancy is?”

“No.”

“Then don’t worry about it.”

Hinrich let his arm fall down as Angela pulled away. “Is it godless?”

“Well…” Angela started, pulling out a small cork and closing off the bottle, dropping it back into her skirt. “God has nothing to do with it.”

“Why me?”

“Why not you?”

Go get lost, or I’ll have Gabriel play with you a bit.”

Hinrich started running before she had finished her sentence, running like he never had before, dodging Gabriel who didn’t even pay attention to him.

Angela joined him, looking after the kid that had run out of sight already.

“I would never hurt a kid,” Gabriel stated.

“I know. But he doesn’t.”

"That'll get infected."

"It might."

"Do you not feel bad?" Gabriel asked, knowing the answer already. It was a silly question, really.

Gabriel looked up at the moon. “Is it too late to meet her?”

“We just got locked up for connections to her.”

“No, you did. I just had a witness too many.”

Angela pushed her lips forward, thinking. “They could have found her already.”

“Our bags are still with her, and there will be something else of use in her room,” Gabriel said with all the patience in the world channelled into his voice, looking somewhat like an exhausted but loving parent.

“There might be.”

Angela parted her hair in three parts and braided it, tying it off with the ribbon she had stuffed into the top of her dress. She put it up in a bun and fixed it with the silver comb, covering it with the fairly elegant coif.

As soon as she had fastened it, and it wouldn’t cause a scandal to do so, Gabriel offered his arm to her. She took it without comment and they started on their way through the streets of Hamburg.

The inn they entered was loud and smelled like beer and sweat, the small room was a lot warmer than the air outside. They made their way to the bar, Gabriel leaning over to catch the innkeeper’s attention.

“We’re here to see Katherina Hane.”

“Are you friends of hers?”

“She owes us,” Angela answered.

The woman looked at them for a moment. “They got her this morning. Leave me out of this, the room on the left.”

Gabriel put two Kreuzer[(2)](One%20Kreuzer%20would%20be%20worth%20about%207%E2%82%AC%20today.) on the wood between them and turned towards the staircase, walking after Angela who was already halfway up the stairs.

The door was closed but unlocked and was pushed open easily. The first thing Angela noticed when she entered the room was the smell of burned herbs, second was the chair that was broken on the floor.

“Didn’t think she would put up a fight,” Angela said, scoffing a bit.

“You’ll miss her.”

“I will. But life goes on. She wasn’t careful enough, now she’s paying for it.”

Gabriel hummed at Angela’s cold tone of voice but didn’t comment any further.

He closed the door behind them as soon as Angela had lit the first candle, picking up two by the door and lighting them on the first one before putting them back in their place.

“Pack anything you like, she won’t have any use for it anymore,” Angela said, already looking through the books. “And find our stuff.”

Gabriel had been looking at the elegant chest next to the bed. “Was she married?”

“I don’t know.”

He stepped over and opened the chest without hesitation. It held dresses that weren’t all that nice and two books, which he threw onto the bed for Angela to look at. He dug deeper until he reached the bottom, feeling around. He came up with a sachet of coins, which he quickly put into one of his pockets. Finders keepers, he wasn’t sharing this one.

He got on his knees to feel around under the bed. He pulled out more books - did this woman get paid in books?, but really, who was he to judge - and finally the first of their bags which they had left with her the last time they had visited. A friend of Katherina’s had told them their things would be safer in the room, and she had been right. She was a renown fortune teller and would probably be executed with Katherina if they caught her. 

Gabriel pulled out all their things - three leather belt bags, two were his, a travel-bag similar to the one Katherina had lying under her desk but with a few small holes in it.

He sat on the bed to unfasten his belt and pull it through the loops of the bags, placing one towards each side, checking only then if anything was missing. He had stashed his knives in one of them, taking them out to place them in their hiding places on his legs and one in his left sleeve.

“They didn’t touch it,” he said, catching Angela’s attention.

“I would have been really disappointed if they did,” she said, taking the bag from his outstretched hand, fastening it onto her own belt.

Gabriel nodded toward the books she had been looking through. “Is there anything you want to take?”

“I’ve read all of these.”

“What about these?” He looked at the books he had put onto the bed.

Angela stepped over to where he was sitting swatting at his arm playfully for him to get up so she could have a better look. Instead of standing he moved over towards the pillow, watching Angela look over the books.

“These are collections on herbs and flowers,” she said, giving the book to Gabriel.

“You want to keep this,” it was a statement, not a question. They had to leave her books behind in Lübeck just a few months prior and she had mourned them ever since.

He opened the stiff cover of the book and was greeted with an intricate drawing of a plant that the clean handwriting next to it called ribleaf. They had used so much of it even Gabriel didn’t need to read about it.

The book obviously had been written by someone who studied plants themselves, otherwise, there would have been a better sorting system Gabriel guessed. Maybe Katherina had written it herself.

“This one, too,” she gave it to Gabriel without looking at him, letting the book fall into his lap carelessly.

Gabriel closed the first one putting it aside and looking at the second one, mathematics. Not something new to Angela, but she hadn’t insisted on taking books on it before. He placed the book on top of the first one and got up from the bed to grab the bag he had seen under the table. It was made of what seemed like coarse sailcloth and had a broad strap fastened to it that would be very comfortable to carry over a shoulder even after a long time. He placed the two books Angela had picked out inside it as well as one of the dresses from the chest.

“Leave it, I don’t like that,” she said as she saw what he packed.

“Last time you were thankful,” he reminded her and finished packing it and closed the bag.

“I’ll be more careful.”

“That’s what you said last time.”

She scoffed. “I was!”

“And you still ended up looking like you tried to bath in blood for youthful skin.” He said coolly.

She glared at him and turned away to look at the last book. “I don’t _need_ witchcraft for youthful skin.”

“Yet,” he said, dropping the bag and feeling along the top of the bookshelf where he knew Angela couldn’t reach. He got a few coins out of it and a big piece of fool’s gold. He added half of the coins to the sachet on his belt and the fool’s gold into his bag that held his other tools-of-some-sort-items.

“Sometimes I seriously regret saving you.”

“I wouldn’t call it being saved. I also never asked for it.”

“Are you ever going to stop hating me for it?”

“I don’t hold a grudge against you anymore.”

Angela dropped a sachet she was holding, bending down to pick it up immediately. “You don’t?”

“Well. Less than you seem to despise my company.”

“I don’t… If you want to go your own way you can do that any time.”

“You would be dead many times if it wasn’t for me,” Gabriel said, still not very emotional, and held the hand out to present half of the coins he had found.

Angela took them, hesitantly, and put them in her dress pocket.

“So you stay with me because you … prefer me alive?”

“Where else would I go? I would end up isolated and lonely.”

“You could find a partner, get married.”

“You made me a monster. What person would respect themselves little enough to take me to spend their life with?”

Angela stared at him. He had always avoided the subject, had always brushed her off and told her how it was her own fault that she couldn’t get rid of him. She hadn’t pressed it. He was useful to have around and understood what she talked about. He was an educated man, with an official degree even, shared her interest in learning new things and didn’t put too much trust in religion which meant that he wasn’t bothered by the witchcraft the church started coming after harder and harder. She wouldn’t admit it, but she liked his company a lot.

“You are no monster, Gabriel.”

“If we’re going to Rozstock we’ll need to find good horses. And then it’ll still be at least a three-day ride. Four with less trained horses,” Gabriel said, pulling back the heavy cloth to look out of the window for a moment, ignoring Angela completely.

“You want to go to Rozstock? Why?” Angela watched him, sounding cautious. They hadn’t talked about where they wanted to go, but they had played with the thought of going towards the west until they found the sea there. Rozstock lay on the eastern sea, so the suggestion was really surprising to her.

“There will be an annual city council meeting. Lots of people with lots of money that would be much prettier in our hands than theirs.”

“Where did you hear about this?” Angela asked.

“Our friend in prison mentioned it before you joined us. He had a bounty on his head for ten Goldgulden and he was pissed off that no one was even getting money for him because the guards found him first.”

“Too bad he didn’t make it out alive,” Angela said, not even trying to feign sympathy.

“He should have been less of a dulcop,” Gabriel said, letting the heavy curtain fall back.

Angela packed two more books, they were ones she had read already but she wanted to have a closer look at them again. Books made for a good trade if you found the right people, as well, so it wouldn’t hurt.

“Did you see a vendor that has affordable horses?”

“No,” Gabriel said, picking up the bag holding nothing but books and a dress, as well as the wooly blanket he took from the bed. “But I’ve seen the grasslands with well-trained horses as we came here.”

They hadn’t taken horses before, usually, they would just take a carriage to another city, but going from Hamburg to Rozstock directly was a long trip that couldn’t be done by ship and it would be a pain to be depending on the carriages.

“Alright, let’s steal some aristocratic horses.”

They closed the door behind them the way they had found it, leaving the dark room behind.

“I’ll get something to eat for the way. Do you want anything?”

Gabriel stepped down the last step of the stairs. “Just some wine,” he requested, passing the two leather-flasks he had fastened to his belt to Angela.

Angela nodded and disappeared into the direction of the innkeeper, leaving Gabriel to have a look at the patrons around. They all seemed to fit either in the category of sailors with a night or two on land or laborers wasting their hard earned money on alcohol and dice or card games.

He stepped over to one of the dice games, watching it for a moment before being noticed.

“Passe-dix?” one of the men offered, mentioning to a chair that was currently unoccupied.

Gabriel shook his head. “I have places to be, soon,” he excused himself from taking part in the game.

Angela caught his eye from across the room as she was waiting for the innkeeper to pack what she had requested from her into handkerchiefs and flasks she had been given. She looked at the men, an inquiring look on her face. Gabriel shrugged dismissively and turned back to watch the game.

 

* * *

 

With Gabriel’s improved sight at night, it was rather easy to pick good horses that weren’t carrying any unique patterns and therefore wouldn’t be easily recognized as stolen. Both bridles and saddles were even easier to find than fitting horses and the animals weren’t really that impressed with strangers taking them away. The upsides of stealing from people with lots of servants. While he was at it Gabriel just took full travel gear, including saddlebags, which he filled with their food, water and personal things from the travel bag that had seen better days. He would dump it somewhere.

“What idiot doesn’t put guards at their stable?” Angela asked as she got up and into the saddle.

Gabriel finished tying the sailcloth-bag securely and mounted his own horse gracefully. He knew it must have been some time for Angela, so they took it easy for the first few kilometers, picking up speed into a trot eventually. Gabriel eyed Angela every now and then, scoffing as her awful riding skills, but at least she hadn’t fallen off, yet. He had given her a quick breakdown on how to move with the horse when they fell into the trot, and some of it seemed familiar somewhere in the back of her head, but it had just been way too long for her to still possess any skills.

Angela let Gabriel lead, as per usual, since not much of the bright cold light of the moon could pass through the thick roof of leaves above them. The horses were basically as blind as Angela was, or so she imagined, which made her slightly concerned that they would trip, but it didn’t happen once. Maybe the did see more than her? Who knew.

As the path broadened and the trees thinned out around them she caught up to Gabriel, praising her horse silently. “Do you think the night is too calm?” she asked, happy that she could see more in front of them now.

“It certainly is very calm tonight. Trust me, we aren’t in danger right now.”

“I greatly trust your judgment, you know this.”

“I do,” he affirmed. “See that small group of trees?” He pointed in front of them.

“No,” Angela answered honestly.

“You will see it, soon. There are bushes around the trees, we can rest for the night there.”

“Do you think we have made it far enough to deserve rest already?”

“I think that the horses have probably been working the day and need some rest if we want them to do well all of tomorrow.”

Angela thought about that without saying anything to it. Of course, he was right, but she didn’t have to tell him every time it happened. It was enough that she didn’t argue.

The moon had only moved slightly over the sky when Angela could see the trees Gabriel had been talking about. All the clouds were clearing out, and it was getting bright enough for them to throw a shadow in the pale light of the almost full moon.

“I can see it now,” she informed.

“I would be concerned if you couldn’t,” Gabriel informed her, grinning. “It’s getting so bright I might have trouble falling asleep.”

“Then maybe you should take the first watch,” Angela suggested, not joking at all.

“I will,” Gabriel assured and raised the pace a bit more for the last hundred meters, checking on Angela. She didn’t dare to try and keep up, which probably was good judgment on her side.

They tied the horses to one of the trees with enough give to the rope that they could grass all they wanted.

Angela used the bag with the dress as a pillow and the thin but warm blanket they had taken from the room. She looked at Gabriel, who had sat down leaning against one of the trees with a few sticks he had picked up and one of his knives, getting to work already.

“Sleep well,” he said as he saw her watching him.

“Wake me when that star,” she pointed at a bright star that was easy to pick out, “disappears on the horizon.”

He nodded and waited for her to look up at the stars. As much as Angela knew, and for whatever knowledge she had about medicine and science, she just didn’t know the night sky. At least she had figured out at what approximate speed the stars were moving across the pitch black firmament.

Gabriel, being the polar opposite of Angela when it came to the stars, knew it better than most other things. His father had been a sailor and it had been important to him to teach his sons how to navigate under the stars. Gabriel sighed, looking at the spring triangle for a few minutes, letting his eyes wander around the thousands of dots. The moon was too bright to see all of them, that was a reason Gabriel preferred new moon.

He turned back to his wood carving, working out the general shape of a fish. He could barely wait to get back to the sea - Hamburg was nice, with the river and the people, but nothing could top the sea.

Angela turned onto her side, sighing slightly, catching Gabriel’s attention again. He watched her without much concern until she settled down and her breathing evened out.

As the fish in his hands started to take shape and he started to add scales a rabbit hopped closer. The first thing Gabriel noticed was some rustling, then a quick small heartbeat; his senses still amplified from the fresh life force he had stolen. He stilled in his movements and smiled at the tiny bunny, that was cautiously hopping around Angela, stealing away all the dandelion flowers that had dotted the grass around her.

Slowly Gabriel picked up the carving again to add scales and features to the face. He finished with a hole in the tail fin. In one of his bags he was carrying a leather cord that already had some wooden animals strung up on them, and he quickly added the fish onto it.

They always made for good trading items for information especially from kids in the streets. They always knew what was _really_ going on in a city, and they were happy when they could bring little presents home to their mother or siblings.

Gabriel looked up at the stars. He would have another hour and a half before it was Angela's turn to stand watch. Without a saber, there wasn't much she would be able to do against bandits but at least she could wake Gabriel before they got to their lives.

Gabriel debated waking Angela later than she said just to give her some extra sleep but the earlier he got his four hours in, the earlier they could get going.

Gabriel picked up the next piece of wood and turned it in his hands trying to figure out what this one wanted to be.

The tree above him rustled and Gabriel’s head snapped back to look up. A barn owl was looking at him curiously from a branch just above him. It turned its head almost completely upside down.

Gabriel smiled and nodded at the owl in greeting.

It turned the head into the other direction and screeched at Gabriel.

“Shh!” he chastised and looked over to where Angela was still sleeping. The owl followed his gaze and screeched again, notably quieter this time.

“Thank you,” Gabriel said and the owl moved out to the side a bit, where it looked down onto the two of them. Gabriel turned the wood in his hand one more time and started on carving an owl out of it.

 

* * *

 

Gabriel yawned and looked at the stars, seeing their designated star was barely visible anymore. He leaned his head back against the tree trunk and looked upwards, where the owl was still watching over them.

“I’m going to sleep now,” Gabriel informed and the owl screeched louder than before as an answer.

Angela startled awake, looking at Gabriel immediately. “What was that?”

Gabriel pointed a finger upward at the owl. Angela looked at where he was pointing and let her upper body fall back against the ground again.

“Give me a moment to wake up, it’s time anyway.”

“Is it?” Gabriel asked, still carving away at the wood.

Angela rubbed at her eyes and stood up, stretching with her arms above her head. “Come on, you need some sleep, too.”

He holstered the knife and packed the small owl into the bag with the other wood figures and cracked the bones in his neck before sinking down next to the tree.

Angela dragged the bag over to him and held the blanket out; she did every single time they only had one and every time Gabriel refused.

He pushed the makeshift pillow under his head but didn’t move to take the blanket. “Keep it,” he said and rolled over onto his side. “See you at dawn.”

“Sleep well,” Angela said and wrapped up in the blanket again quickly, thankful for the wooly warmth against the coldness of the late night. She leaned against her own tree and rubbed at her eyes again before looking up to the barn owl that was still sitting on the tree above Gabriel. It looked like it was going to sleep, as well. It was a pretty one, this owl. More yellow and white than anything else, though there were a few darker spots throughout its plumage. Did it change over the course of the year? They had just left the deadly cold of winter behind, it had been just long enough for the trees to explode into fresh green and the first flowers to show themselves.

Maybe barn owls changed colors to blend into the snowy forest in winter, she would have to find someone who could tell her something about them sometime.

This wasn’t the first owl Gabriel attracted; they seemed to love him.

Once again Angela wondered if she had anything to do with that. Well. Not she herself but rather the something that went wrong. She had figured it out immediately after, _knew_ what had gone wrong the second it did. But the harm was done and no amount of sorcery had managed to fix Gabriel, then he had refused to let her experiment. All things considered, she had done very well, though, and she had reason to be proud of herself for it. That’s all she let herself feel about it. Pride.

Did he actually know how to communicate with them? Did he tell the owl to wake Angela? Some people might have called such thoughts silly, but Angela had seen too many things to call it a silly possibility. It was a real one.

More than once she has had the hunch that Gabriel was mainly staying with her to prevent her from experimenting again. They had done it together once, which went perfect, but only to get some information they had needed. They had killed him again right after. Even though technically it wasn’t murder, he had been dead already and they even had to dig up the grave. What ungrateful work that had been.

Angela shivered and pulled the blanket closer around herself. From the place she had chosen to sit at she couldn’t see as much of the sky as Gabriel had but she could clearly see the path they had followed. They were riding towards ENE according to the compass they had stolen the last time they had been on a ship. Sailors had the best portable compasses as it turned out, and Gabriel’s skills to get into and back out of places without anyone noticing were amazing nowadays.

Something else for Angela to pride herself with.

Slowly the horizon was being tinted in lighter blue tones, making the colors of the trees and flowers around them look grey and sad. The brightest stars were still glimmering above them but since the moon had set already she could see even less than when she went to sleep.

The owl screeched in the tree above Gabriel, making him throw a stick in its general direction with surprising speed. It seemed unfazed and screamed again.

Angela looked around, confused as to why the owl was so aggravated all of the sudden. Maybe it had seen a mouse - though alerting a mouse to your presence didn’t seem like the smartest move an owl could make.

The owl screamed again angrily. Gabriel sat up straight, listening into the night, getting to his feet and looking towards where they had come from. “Get the horses,” he instructed. “Now.”

Angela scrambled to her feet. “Gabriel, I don’t-”

“God’s nails, woman!” he said calmly throwing the saddles onto the horses' backs as fast as he could without startling them and securing them.

Angela watched them nervously, picking up the blanket and bag. The horses were just as nervous as she was, how hadn’t she noticed that before? She looked over to Gabriel where he looked like he was wide awake already. How was he less tired than her? It seemed very unfair to her.

Gabriel had made sure Angela got up onto her horse safely before mounting his own himself. He shot a look at the owl and nodded.

Angela wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating but the owl seemed to nod back at him before swinging itself up into the slowly greying night sky.

“Why do you even offer to take a watch shift if you spend all of it thinking?” Gabriel asked slightly annoyed, getting the horse into a fast trot with ease.

Angela followed suit, still very confused but confident in Gabriel’s decisions.

“How did you know I was busy thinking?”

“Did you fall back asleep?”

“No!”

“So what did you do?”

Angela hesitated. “I was lost in thought?”

“Ah. I would never have guessed,” Gabriel said, though good-natured.

“You barely slept two hours. Why are we fleeing like crazy people?”

Gabriel opened his mouth but closed it immediately, pointing to their left instead, where the forest wasn’t too far.

Angela looked where he was pointing. She strained her eyes, trying to see in the small amount of light dawn was already giving them. At first, she couldn’t make out anything. Then some shadows moving close to the ground separated from the trees for a moment, melting back into them quickly.

“What is that?” Angela asked, squinting in an attempt to find them again. “Are those wolves?”

“Only seven or eight.”

“How long have they been there?” Angela asked, sounding slightly panicked.

“I don’t know. I was asleep,” Gabriel said unimpressed.

“Do wolves actually attack humans?”

“I believe the horses were in more danger than we were.”

Angela nodded, directing her attention back to the path in front of them. They were riding directly towards the rising sun.

The sky was starting to be tinted the slightest hint of red, daytime approaching quickly enough. Quickly enough that it was getting noticeably brighter by the minute.

Gabriel reached for one of the bottles on his belt, taking a swing. He reached into one of the sides of his saddlebag with the other hand, fishing out a piece of bread and one of cheese, holding them out for Angela.

She caught up, pacing her horse to stay next to Gabriel with some trouble and eyed the offered breakfast. “How do you feel so comfortable on horseback?”

“Practise.”

Angela rolled her eyes, trying to reach out with one hand to take the food. Immediately she slipped to the side, catching herself as quick as possible. “Gabriel I can’t do this,” she complained.

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes, sighing and taking a bite of the cheese.

“Hey! That’s mine!” Angela complained.

“Then take it,” he taunted, holding both in her direction.

Angela reached out again, having to catch herself once more. She looked at him with anger as he took a bite off the bread.

He grinned at her, showing his teeth, holding the breakfast out again.

“I’m glad you think this is funny,” Angela hissed at him.

Gabriel took another swing from his bottle before closing it off and putting it back onto his belt.

“Can we at least slow down?” Angela asked, fixing her eyes on the food held in front of her as if not holding onto anything at this pace was like breathing.

Gabriel eyed the sky and the fields around them. The sun had appeared fully over the horizon, not hiding anything anymore. There was no trace of the wolves anymore, either.

“Alright. Do you want to stop?”

Angela hesitated for a moment. “Yes.”

Gabriel nodded and somehow made his horse stop immediately. It took a moment for Angela to register what was happening and another few meters to stop herself. She thought she was slowly getting the hang of this as she steered them back around to where Gabriel was leaning forward, silent laughter shaking his shoulders.

“You are a cad, Gabriel,” she said, making him laugh even harder.

“Would you like to dismount, your highness?” he asked, barely containing his laughter as he looked at her.

Angela looked down to the ground for a moment, ignoring his mockery. “No, thank you.” She said, carefully lifting a hand up to demand the food again. He held it just out of reach, making her lean forward. “Give that to me you blackguard!”

“Am I supposed to be hurt by your insults?” Gabriel asked, grinning at Angela again and letting her take the bread and cheese finally.

“Why are you doing that?” she asked, sighing as she finally took bites of both the cheese and the bread.

“It’ll train your middle. It’s important strength to have,” Gabriel informed. “Your balance is awful, too.”

She glared at him, taking another bite of bread instead of answering. She eyed the bottle hanging on his belt, the bread suddenly feeling very dry in her mouth.

Gabriel reached over to Angela’s saddlebags and pulled out one of the leather bottles of water, holding it out to her.

“If you believe I’ll let go with the other hand too you are severely mistaken,” she said earnestly.

He rolled his eyes again but smiled at her anyway. “Would you like me to help?”

“With drinking?” she asked incredulously.

He shrugged, letting the hand with the bottle sink down.

“Did you work with horses a lot?” she asked to change the subject slightly.

“Yes,” Gabriel answered.

Angela waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t.

She took another bite from the cheese and bread, longing for some of the sweet wine Gabriel was carrying on him. Usually, she preferred water in the mornings but after the shock with the wolves…

“What did you do for a living?” she tried to take her own mind off of the wine.

“I was a teacher in Rozstock, you were already aware.”

“That I knew. But why did it require you to ride?”

Gabriel lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “I was assisting a master of cartography in Lübeck every now and then. Carriages were never my preferred method of travel.”

“I’m learning so much about you lately,” Angela said, finishing her bread.

“Awful, isn’t it?” Gabriel said, holding out the water again as she finished her cheese as well.

She took the bottle and looked at it hesitantly. “Do you think you could share that wine of yours? Since you took my breakfast.”

“I don’t believe alcohol is what you need at the moment,” Gabriel said, back to suppressing a smile.

“Alright,” Angela agreed and took a sip of water. She gave the bottle back to Gabriel so he could close it and put it back into her saddlebag.

“Thank you.”

Gabriel nodded and seized Angela up and down with a look. “Ready to get going again?”

She grabbed the reins and took a small breath before forcing herself to smile. “Ready when you are.”

“Don't look so sad about it,” he said and clicked his tongue.

She wasn't sure if it was directed at the horse or her so she chose to ignore it, trying to not cramp up as they started their not exactly slow pace again.

“Do you think we'll get to a good travel speed today?”

“This isn't a good speed?” she questioned.

Gabriel raised his eyebrows in her direction but didn't comment any further for the time being.

Angela noticed him watching her every now and then, it was unnerving, really. “Next time we’ll just share so I can hold onto you and not slip,” she said.

Gabriel looked at her directly now. “Certainly not. How would you ever learn it properly if you don’t practice it yourself?”

“Letting me fall off won’t make my form any better,” she objected.

“Pain is a great teacher,” Gabriel informed raising the pace noticeably.

Angela groaned but tried to keep up, which was getting rather difficult. She tried to copy what she saw Gabriel do, but it turned out to be more complex than she had thought.

“When was the last time you were on a horse?”

“Last night,” Angela bit back next to him.

“Before that?” he clarified.

Angela tried to straighten her back more. “When I was about eleven. I didn’t think I’d ever travel this much.”

“It really has been a long time then, hasn’t it?” Gabriel laughed.

“Did you just call me old?” Angela asked. “That’s no way to talk to a lady.”

“Good thing I am not, then.”

“Excuse you?” Angela cried. A smile played around the corners of her mouth.

“You heard me,” Gabriel assured.

“Are you sure I’m not too old to hear you?”

“I’m older than you, anyway,” Gabriel mentioned.

Angela was taken aback. “You aren’t that much older than me, are you?”

“Well, I don’t seem to age properly ever since … I have seen 35[(3)](I%20tried%20to%20read%20up%20on%20the%20average%20life%20expectancy%20of%20the%20time%20and%20as%20it%20tunes%20out%20people%20made%20it%20to%20higher%20ages%20than%20school%20taught%20me.%20I%20wanted%20to%20place%20all%20of%20them%20at%20quite%20a%20young%20age%20still,%20though,%20so%20the%20age%20gap%20between%20them%20got%20tossed%20around%20a%20bit.) years as of the last winter.”

Angela looked at him, blinking twice. “You _are_ old,” she said.

“How old are you?” he asked. He was aware that she was a good bit younger than him and he never had cared, he didn’t _care_ now, but he was interested.

“I’m 24,” she informed him.

He nodded and looked at her for a moment, letting the subject of their age go. “Angela?”

“What?” she looked at him cautiously, not liking how his voice sounded.

“You trust me, don’t you?”

“I do,” she sounded so honest Gabriel almost raised his eyebrows at her. She liked to say she did, but in this stressful moment, when she basically knew what he was going to ask of her it was more than just a few words. And this trust truly surprised him.

“You seem to have some trouble with the rhythm that is asked of you during this speed,” he stated.

“Honestly, yes.”

“Changing gaits every now and then might treat you better. Might treat you worse, but I’ll take the lead and we’ll just hope for your horse to have a good herd instinct and follow suit.”

“I can’t say I’m convinced, but then again what do I know.”

“Not a lot about this,” he smiled at her.

She returned the smile and took a deep breath that sounded shaky due to being tossed around on the back of the horse.

“Let’s stop for a moment, I’ll tell you some basics.”

“I like how you want to tell me basics after hours of riding,” Angela scoffed but smiled.

Gabriel shrugged. “You confused your horse a bunch but somehow you managed. You made a lot of mistakes but … you moved, so you did _something_ right.”

“Thanks, I know. I figured out that clicking my tongue actually works.”

When they came to a stop Gabriel leaned down to touch her ankle. Her dress was riding up high, even with how wide the hem was, but she hadn’t cared about her modesty ever since she had basically moved in with Gabriel. Whenever they were in public they lived as a married couple, so they wouldn’t scandalize everyone around them. So when he started touching her it wasn’t bothering her much, either.

“Stay loose here, don’t cramp up. Your toes don’t have to point straight forward. Don’t cramp up your knees either, be loose, be relaxed for the most part. Just let them fall open a bit.”

He looked up to see if she was still with him. Angela nodded firmly.

Gabriel pulled himself back up to be mostly upright. “To inform your horse that you want to go faster, you’ll bring in the upper part of your calf. To do so you actually tighten this muscle here,” he touched the back of her thigh, tracing the muscle he was talking about through her layers of dresses.

“Wait,” she pulled up the dress high enough to pool around her hips. Gabriel seemed to be just as unbothered about it as her; he had never shown any of _that_ kind of interest in her, which, in the beginning, had bothered her just a bit. But she had moved past that, as well.

He poked the muscle on her thigh again.

“Okay. I think I got this. Anything else? How do I stop?”

“You’ve gotten good at stopping,” Gabriel said, and he didn’t sound like he wanted to help any more with that, changing the subject again. “Do you want me to go into detail when to use your calves to drive your horse or do you just want to try what seems to work for the two of you? As in, let your horse follow me and hope you’ll figure something out along the way?”

“Is it complicated?”

“That depends on whom you’re asking,” he answered honestly.

“You know what? I’ll just try.”

“As you wish,” he said, moving to take another sip of his wine while Angela went over it in her head for a moment.

“How long can we travel at such a high speed?”

“Not consistently.” He bit his cheek while thinking about it. “We’ll change gaits frequently. That way you can learn and the horses won’t be exhausted too fast.”

Angela groaned at the prospect of having to give lots of instructions, but maybe she could really learn a lot that way. Also, maybe her horse’s herd instinct was just great enough to get them to their destination without so much trouble after all.

Gabriel laughed at her and got into a medium walk, turning around to see if she was going to follow him. She looked less lost at what to do, and downright happy when the horse actually somehow understood what she was trying to convey. Soon she pulled past him the first time.

He stayed three horse lengths behind her for a while, watching her with a small smile. He was almost proud of her, and she _did_ look less like she had not a single clue what he was doing. Until her horse decided it was time to eat instead of run, which almost made him laugh at her. He urged his horse on to catch up to Angela, doing his best not to laugh at her while he got them back on track. “Try staying behind me this time, will you?”

She did, and much to her surprise and to Gabriel’s satisfaction it worked just as hoped. “This is better!” she called out to him soon, actually laughing.

Gabriel shifted in the saddle a bit, enjoying the feeling he had missed so much. He felt the pure strength of the huge muscles working under him, the not yet quite warm air in his face, catching his hair and mussing it like a caress.

He hadn’t seen her this relaxed and happy in … well. Ever. He didn’t even know this was a mood that was possible for her.

They made it to the edge of the forest in much less time than Gabriel had dared to hope. He had fallen back slightly, as they had slowed down as they passed the first trees, falling into the much-hated trot before slowing down to a medium walk.

When he caught up once more she pointed at a creek dipped in shadows of the trees in front of them.

“ _Please_ let us take a break.”

He grinned at her. “Your horse or you?”

“Both,” she said honestly and looked at him. She looked exhausted.

“I was going to suggest to let the horses take a break anyway,” he said and dismounted before she had even finished listening to him.

They sat in the cool grass next to the water while the horses helped themselves to grass and water Angela had taken her bottle and an apple with her.

Gabriel had filled one of the wooden cups he had taken from the stable with water from the creek, sipping it while watching the horses.

“Gabriel?” Angela caught his attention, taking a small bite of her apple.

“Right here,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“What was that?” he asked, looking at her.

“I said thank you. For trying to teach me,” she repeated herself, throwing the core of the apple over her shoulder.

“You could have eaten that.”

“Would you like to have it?” she asked, sounding unamused.

He glared at her.

She sighed and picked single blades of grass just to drop them again immediately.

“You’re welcome,” Gabriel said with a soft voice. “You held yourself well. I would have bet a lot of money that you’d fall off, just yesterday.”

“Thanks for your faith in me,” she said, not without bite.

“Hey, I was being nice!”

“Were you?”

“Not really,” he grinned at her.

She shook her head slightly and couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll probably be dead by the time we make it to the city,” she admitted then.

“I won’t be able to help with that, I’m afraid,” his voice was giving away more of his disgust at the mere thought than he had intended it to.

Angela looked at him, her face frozen to a mask all of the sudden. “I think you could if you wanted to.”

“I won’t let myself sink that low.”

“There will be a moment in your life when you will beg me to help you to mobilize your skills,” she said, still cold as ice.

He pressed his lips together to a thin line, clenching his jaw tightly, trying not to think about it and what would be able to change his mind like that. He didn’t know if she only said it to rile him up or if she had gotten a reading that suggested something like that. What he did know was that no matter which one it was, he still had his fate in his own hands. Readings, no matter with what medium, were a mirror of the current situation.

“And the best part is that you know I’m right,” she said, taking a sip of water. She saw the smoke flowing off of him for a moment, trying and failing to not stare at it. It was a steady reminder of her failure.

Angela closed the water bottle and clapped her hands once, not too loud but enough to slightly break the tension she had created.

Gabriel looked at her, pursing his lips for a moment before getting to his feet. “I should have learned by now that you are a cruel person, and everything else is temporary.”

“What are you accusing me of, Gabriel?”

“I’m not accusing you of anything. I am the only guilty one in this relationship.”

Angela looked at him, trying to figure out what he meant by that.

“I keep falling for your tricks, even after now almost three years. We are way beyond ‘fool me twice’, and I keep being fooled.” He fetched the horses for them skillfully and mounted his as Angela was still on the ground. He held the reins to Angela's horse, holding them out to her until she rose to her feet with a small groan.

“You are not offering to help me up this time?”

“No.”

She blinked at him. Normally he wasn’t this aggravated by her when they were on their own. “What is the matter with you?” she asked, taking the reins and looking up at him.

“I could ask you the same thing. You are the one who ruined a perfectly good mood Angela, don’t get annoyed with me over that.”

Angela frowned at him. “I was telling the truth.”

“Some things are better left unsaid. Now get up already.” He said, voice devoid of any emotion.

 

* * *

 

Angela tried to start a conversation twice, but Gabriel shot her down both times. The first time he graced her with one word answers, the second time he changed the gait as soon as she opened her mouth. He fell into a gallop at a pace that looked dangerous to her. Unfortunately, her horse seemed to get the idea that they had to follow him at a similar pace.

Angela panicked.

She should have insisted on Gabriel showing her how to slow down properly. As it was all she could do was cramp her hands down onto the saddle, hoping for it to end in the near future.

It went on for maybe two minutes before Gabriel threw a gaze over his shoulder, pressing his horse to get it to slow down to a working trot. Much to her surprise, he waited for her to close up, looking over his shoulder every now and then.

“This was your intention behind not showing me, wasn’t it? Being able to punish me like this? And you call _me_ cruel?” she hissed at him.

He didn’t turn to look at her, raising the pace again, slower this time but consistently.

“Gabriel, don’t,” Angela called.

Gabriel raised the pace once more.

“Gabriel, please let’s just keep it slow for a while.”

He seemed to contemplate it for a moment, falling into a working trot again but not turning towards her. Angela knew better than to open her mouth for the moment. She thought she heard him say something like “who is the one begging now”, but she didn’t comment on that, either.

 

* * *

 

They took another break for the horses when they met the creek again, letting them drink and have some grass.

“Don’t dismount,” Gabriel had instructed her sharply. It was the kind of voice that usually made people comply without daring to object.

Angela had had almost three years to learn that he wouldn’t follow it up with anything towards her, though. “I’ll dismount if I feel like it,” Angela had replied immediately and moved to do just that.

“Angela, stay on the horse,” he said, his voice as calm as ever.

She hesitated. Usually, he didn’t try twice on her. Usually, he just let her do whatever she wanted. Usually, he would have adapted to whatever she had her mind set on.

So she hesitated.

“Don’t make me repeat myself again,” Gabriel advised.

“What has gotten into you?” Angela asked, staying put.

Gabriel stared at her. He hated that she had gotten under his skin like this, but he was angry with her just as much as he was angry with himself and just because she had managed to keep her mouth shut for the past hours didn’t mean he had forgotten about their little interaction from earlier.

Angela stared back. “Are you expecting me to apologize for something?”

“I don’t expect any such thing from you anymore,” he said truthfully.

“Are you in pain today?” She changed the subject, knowing full well that it wasn’t the best subject to talk about. But he seemed talkative lately and she hoped to get some more info on what living was truly like for him.

“It is a full moon the night after tomorrow.”

“You should let me mix up something for you,” she said, just as she had offered for the past thirty or so moons.

“I will never again put any of your sorcery on or in my body out of free will,” he said, as he had oathed the past twenty or so times she had offered before.

She sighed. “I _know_ what went wrong with you. I have perfected it since. I could _help_ you.”

“I. Don’t want. Your help.” He sounded as cold as the last winter night they had to spend outside.

The mist was curling around him in clouds, winding around his arms and shoulders like a second coat. She watched it raise from his bare skin like ink that dropped into water, fading into the clouds of smoke.

“Watch it, your body is escaping you,” she hissed at him.

The sound that came out of his throat was nothing but a growl, throaty and louder than should be possible. “I have perfect control over where my body is going.”

“It is almost a full moon.” She looked at the plumes to avoid his eyes, still. She wouldn’t admit, not even to herself, that the red they took sometimes still shook her to her bones. “Full moons make it hard on you.”

“I had a lot of time to practice.”

“Would you please go back to pretending to be human now?”

He pressed his lips together for a moment and shook his head once in disapproval. “Back to being a monster now, am I?”

“I didn’t call you that.”

“No. You don’t ever call things by their name,” he agreed.

Angela stared at him, mouth slightly agape, trying to think of something to say in response. Before she had enough time to come up with something Gabriel steered his horse around, falling into a working trot right away. He didn’t check if she would follow him, frankly, he didn’t care all too much at that moment.

He heard the second set of hooves behind him almost immediately, though, so he really didn’t need to turn around and check.

As it was getting later in the day he would have to make a decision on whether or not they would halt for the night, soon.

Gabriel could smell the smoke before he could see the inn, and as much as he wanted to torture Angela by not stopping for the night, he didn’t want to pain the horses too much. He had debated pushing them right to the limit as they would sell or abandon them as soon as they got to Rozstock anyway, but the poor animals didn’t deserve that in Gabriel’s opinion.

The inn was hidden well between the trees, making them break away from the street onto a winding forest path.

“This isn’t a normal inn, is it?”

“It has a sign out front,” Gabriel said.

“I’m pretty sure not a single person in there _doesn’t_ have a bounty on their head.”

“Just pay them enough and they won’t rob us.”

“How do you know?” Angela sounded suspicious.

“Since when are you doubting your persuasion skills?”

She huffed out a breath. “I’m not.”

She eyed the low building. There were only two stories and the best-kept part seemed to be the sign that said ‘Kommet all Vogelfreie’ (Come all who are beyond the law), which was slightly disconcerting but at the same time they had been part of that group for a long time now. Gabriel didn’t seem to have the least bit of concern regarding this invitation.

He dismounted, handing his reins to Angela. “I will see if they have a room or two for us. Wait here.”

“One will suffice.”

“That is your opinion.”

“Why wouldn't you share a room with your wife?”

“Why would I share one with my servant?” he shot back immediately, making her take in a sharp breath of shock.

“Don't you dare,” she said, but he was already making his way to the door.

Gabriel pushed the wooden door open with one hand, being met with surprisingly little resistance. He stepped into a dim room that was a lot bigger than he had expected, and a lot emptier as well. The only patrons were a group of four playing cards around a table and two men talking at the bar.

As Gabriel let the door fall shut behind him all eyes were trained on him immediately.

Pulling himself up to his full height he walked over to the bar without hurry, making sure that his hands were visible at all times. The men on the table twitched for their guns, but he ignored it. Let them be careful.

“Good evening,” the taller of the two men at the bar greeted him. He was still a head shorter than Gabriel.

“The same to you,” Gabriel responded. “Is there any chance that as busy as you are you can make some space for two and as many horses?”

The taller man turned towards him, looking him up and down. “Would you mind telling me who you are, stranger?”

“I am of your kind of people,” Gabriel assured.

“And what would you mean by that?”

Gabriel stepped even closer to the man, crowding into his space and making sure he could see his eyes before flashing him a toothy smile that showed his just slightly too long canines, letting the feeling of death wash over him as it ate away at the flesh of his cheek and tinted his eyes. “Oh, you know. The so-called damned ones.” A smell of rotting and dirt whiffed around the room faintly.

The man tried to step back, bumping into his equally terrified looking friend. “You're a damned one alright. God's nails, just …” He seemed to need to take a breath to collect the last of his mind. “Two rooms and a place for the horses?”

“One room, for two people.”

The man nodded.

“If the horses are touched or we are being inconvenienced,” Gabriel began and the man was shaking his head already, “not a single man will make it out of here. Not a single soul will make it to the afterlife, do you understand?”

The man nodded frantically and fished for a keyring on his belt. “I'll show you to your room.”

Gabriel recomposed his less terrifying face and stepped aside for the innkeeper to hurry past him towards the door.

Angela had dismounted and looked at them for a moment as they stepped outside. The innkeeper looked at her with slight bewilderment, walking right past her. “Please follow me,” he instructed.

They fell into step with him a few paces behind.

“You look pretty grey,” Angela said, quietly enough for the man not to hear.

Gabriel let his gaze fall to his hands; his skin _did_ look washed out and sick. “Yeah well, it's almost a full moon.”

The stables looked well kept on the inside, a scrawny kid scrambled to his feet to help them get settled.

Gabriel sent a pointed look towards the innkeeper when he tried to help with their bags and slung all of their things over his own arm.

“Would you like one or two beds in the room?” the innkeeper asked with a surprisingly steady voice.

Gabriel looked at Angela for a few seconds. “One,” he decided.

The man nodded and hurried along. They followed him inside the house through a back door and up a flight of stairs.

The room was small, but judging by the sheer amount of doors they had come by none of the rooms could be any bigger.

Gabriel looked at the man who had stayed in the hallway and nodded once in appreciation.

“We will be right down with you, please prepare dinner for one. Meat, whatever vegetables you have. Fruit if you have any. And wine.”

Angela looked at Gabriel with surprise.

The innkeeper was already on his way back down the hallway. “Of course, consider it prepared.”

Angela shut the door gently and turned back around to look at Gabriel. “Whom is the food for?”

“You,” he said, his voice sounding like he wanted to ask her if she was getting dense for some reason.

“Why are you ordering food for me?”

“Do you not want to eat?”

“Of course I do I just…”

“Know of your wrongdoing and didn't expect me to get over it so soon?”

She didn't answer.

Gabriel didn't let it show on his face but he was very satisfied with himself for hitting the bullseye on the first try.

Angela used the small mirror on the wall next to the door to fix her coif and the hair sticking out. As she turned back to Gabriel she seemed to have collected some of her witts again. “So what is your motive for getting me meat?”

“What do you think?”

She squinted at him slightly. Angela tried looking at it from Gabriel's point of view but came up blank. Why _would_ he do this, indeed?

“Well if I knew the answer I wouldn’t ask the question,” she said instead.

“What is scarier than a man with a damned face?”

“A man with a damned face?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

Angela averted her eyes and thought about it.

“A man with the face of the Damned _and_ money for a good meal, that is powerful enough to make a beautiful, very much alive lady his companion, perhaps?” she suggested.

“I see you are regaining your intelligence.”

“What can I say… I am blessed with beauty _and_ intelligence, it’s not my fault.”

He hummed undecided. “So why are you sticking with me then, with all your blessings?”

“Birds of a feather, Gabriel.”

“How can you use a word of beauty to describe what I have become?”

“Your everyday-face hasn’t changed a lot, you know.”

“How would you?”

Angela smiled a bit. “I saw you the night before you died, I was called as a help to the physician whose assistant had been infected with a fever.”

“By me,” Gabriel assumed.

“Yes.”

“I didn’t know it was you.”

“You were very much dead at that point, of course you wouldn’t remember,” her voice was cautious. She wanted to avoid a repetition of the anger she had brought onto herself earlier.

“Why did you wait to resurrect me?”

“I needed privacy, of course. To get that … it took nearly four hours.”

“It was only hours?”

“I wouldn’t lie about this.”

Gabriel looked at her, squinting slightly. “Why is my soul so damaged, then?”

“It is only a guess that the state of decay your body is in is a connection to your soul,” Angela said, she had said these exact words to him four weeks after his resurrection.

“What else would it be?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“In your … educated opinion. Assuming that it is the state of my soul, why is it so damaged?”

Angela looked at the ground for a moment, thinking how to wrap it up in words. “How many people did you kill in your lifetime?”

“None.”

“What crimes did you commit that would make you feel rueful after death?”

“Lots of lies, I guess. And charging a lot of money for lessons sometimes, but nothing that would send me to Hell,” he spoke slowly, thinking about it as he formed his sentence.

“So maybe you were passing into the afterlife already when I … so your soul was damaged as I brought it back to your body.”

Gabriel looked at her, processing what she was saying. It was the closest she had ever gotten to admitting that it had been her fault. “I only remember emptiness,” he said.

“But now you are close to immortal, isn’t that a good thing?”

“I don’t die for I am not alive,” he confirmed, “but I suffer greatly in situations of death.”

Angela pressed her lips together.

“Shall we go have dinner?” Gabriel asked, sounding cheery and presenting a similar atmosphere to the room suddenly.

“As you wish,” Angela said, trying her line for the evening.

Gabriel grinned, showing his teeth slightly.

“I hate how much you are going to enjoy this dumb act of devotion,” Angela said in a low voice.

“And I love how much you will hate it, mitting.”

“No terms of endearment in private, Gabriel,” Angela reminded.

“You started playing your role, I just followed your lead,” he said with the grin still firmly in place.

“As you say,” she hissed, glaring but stepping out of the room already.

She had left her coat that was perfect for spring or autumn nights with their other things in their room, only wrapping herself in the cloak that was oh so useful in cold nights and fought off rain so well.

Gabriel stepped past her locking the door. He had opted for the exact opposite, leaving the cloak and only donning the silky soft black coat with the buttons made of real silver that showed off their supposed wealth effectively.

“Do you think he believes you live off of my blood?”

“They always do, don’t they?” Gabriel turned slightly so she could catch the lowly spoken words.

“Should we prove him right?”

Gabriel stopped dead in his tracks, turning around. “Why would we do that?”

“Out of joy for their horror?” Angela suggested.

“Are you suggesting I use my teeth on you in front of all those people?”

Angela flinched enough for Gabriel to see it clearly. “No.”

“Then how would we present it to them?”

Angela hesitated for a moment. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.”

“Damn straight.” Gabriel made to turn, as Angela caught his wrist.

She put her own in his hand and nodded down to them. “Bite me right now.”

“No,” he said firmly, holding onto her wrist anyway.

“Why not?”

“I don’t particularly like the taste of your blood.”

“But other people’s blood is okay?”

“Not all of them.”

She looked at him with a blank expression.

“I don’t gain anything from your blood, either.”

“Yes, you do.”

“Souls are way more effective.”

“But isn’t it life’s energy you need?”

“Yes,” he admitted.

“That can be conveyed through blood.”

“Not effectively.”

“But they don’t know that.”

“You are a sadistic person, wanting them to be even more terrified,” he said, strengthening his hold on her wrist suddenly.

Angela called out wordlessly, a short scream more out of shock than anything else.

Something broke into pieces downstairs, a plate or a cup of clay, perhaps.

“What are you doing?” she hissed, the iron grip slowly loosening around her wrist.

“Making it believable,” Gabriel said, matter of factly, and slipped the knife from out his sleeve. “Do you have something to prevent infection later?”

“I just asked you to bite me. Of _course,_ I do,” she said, not sounding as sure as she had wanted to, being too unnerved by the steel glinting as the light of the candle hit it just right.

She watched the bruises slowly forming already but had to avert her eyes as Gabriel slashed her skin, just enough to draw some blood. He let go of her wrist and wiped the blade with his fingers, smearing the blood that had transferred between them.

Angela looked down to where her hand had fallen beside her body, the blood trickling down, almost reaching her palm. Gabriel had done a good job in making it look a lot like crooked bite marks, especially with the bruises blooming around the cuts. Angela grit her teeth and carefully smeared the blood around with her other hand, making it look less clean and more like a full meal.

“Someone heard me scream,” she said, when she was satisfied with her work, letting both her hands sink down to be held next to her body.

“I think you convinced them of your unwillingness to serve as a meal, that is what you wanted, is it not?”

She looked at her wrist another time, then up to Gabriel. “You are right, that is what I intended. You executed it smartly.”

Gabriel nodded at the compliment, offering his arm to Angela, who took it with the hand that wasn’t wounded. They took the broader staircase that went down into the tavern-room instead of the route taking them outside. There were two doors to this stairway, both closed to keep the warmth downstairs, Gabriel guessed.

He pushed open the second one, stepping foot into the room after Angela who waited for him to close the door before linking their arms again, avoiding making eye contact with anyone and holding her head lowered slightly.

The room was fairly bright, brighter than when Gabriel had entered it the first time. He noticed some oil lamps on the walls and there was a fire dancing in the fireplace now.

Gabriel walked them to a table set with four chairs, wine being brought to them immediately, along with two cups. The cups lay heavy in his hand as Gabriel filled them both with wine. He was sure one of these had made the breaking sound, it would fit perfectly.

With the wine and the cups came two plates and two knives. As the innkeeper set the plates in front of them Gabriel caught the wrist setting down his plate, gripping it lightly but enough for the innkeeper to go rigid under his touch.

“One will suffice, I already had my meal.”

The innkeeper looked at Angela slowly, eyes catching on her wrist after just a moment. She had placed both her hands on the table, put them there consciously, but made it look like nothing but good manners, not looking at the innkeeper once.

Gabriel heard his breath hitch before he withdrew his hand with the plate quickly. “As you wish.”

Gabriel looked at Angela. “Take off your cloak.”

She complied without comment, not even giving him the eye roll he had expected. She was playing her role surprisingly well, which made Gabriel smile. There was a raging storm inside of her, he knew that for sure.

The food was brought out to them in record time, just how they had expected. Something that looked like an entire pheasant was set in between them together with buttery potatoes and carrots, as well as a platter with two apples and a pear. This time of the year it wasn’t that easy to come across loads of fruit, so Gabriel was satisfied with what they got.

Angela looked at him and as she did he could see the distaste in her eyes.

“Go on,” he instructed and she nodded, smiling at him pleasantly.

Instead of watching her eat Gabriel pulled out one of the books they had taken from Katherina’s room. He had kept it tugged in his coat since they left their own room, having planned both on taking some quality time to read and so he could successfully ignore Angela while she ate her best meal in weeks.

He was painfully aware of the eyes on them, they felt like fine needles prickling on his skin, making him uneasy and on edge.

“How is dinner?” Gabriel asked, not raising his eyes from the book.

Angela finished chewing her bite and swallowed before answering. “Enjoyable.”

“Good,” Gabriel hummed, turning a page.

Angela was pacing herself so she wouldn’t be finished in less time than it took them to get from their room into the tavern room. It was good food, and she wanted to savor every bite of it – God only knew when she would get a full meal like that again. She watched Gabriel read, sipping his wine as if there weren’t six people in the room with him, all watching him wearily.

He sat down his cup, not making a move to refill it. Angela took the first sip of her own wine – sweet but with a certain bitterness in the aftertaste, not bad at all.

“May I?” she asked, reaching for the jug.

Gabriel lifted his eyes from the book for a moment, contemplating the offer, then gave a curt nod.

Angela stood and lifted the jug with her, stepping around the table to stand next to Gabriel and lifting his cup slightly, refilling it before taking her seat again and resuming her meal.

She chewed on the potato a little more aggressive than she needed to, trying to ignore how Gabriel managed to look smug without moving any of his facial features at all. Blackguard.

Unfortunately for her, his whole being radiated too much power and self-assurance for them to go the ‘witch and demonic servant route’, no one would ever buy that he was the devoted one in their relationship. While she could be very convincing in the leading role she was also good at making herself seem like the follower; the fact that she didn’t have the size and build of a bookshelf probably helped a lot, too.

Gabriel had finished three cups of wine by the time Angela had finished her meal, including a single cup. He closed the book the second she was finished, nodding towards where the innkeeper was watching them from a safe distance. “Go pay the man for his services,” he instructed.

“As you wish,” Angela answered, raising from her chair and putting her cloak over her shoulders before striding over to the innkeeper.

Gabriel rose from his own chair, tugging the book back into his coat and working through tensing every muscle group in his body to relax them slightly. He watched the innkeeper being more terrified than before, as Angela used the bloody hand to hold the coins in her palm, picking out the right amount with the other hand. They were standing close to one of the oil lamps, giving a good view of what had happened to her.

The man whispered something to Angela, Gabriel caught it too late for him to hear what he was saying. He watched the muscles in Angela’s back tense, her shoulders pulling up even through the heavy cloak, a moment later he could hear her suck in air through her teeth.

“No!” she said firmly, looking offended even from the back.

Gabriel strode over to her with smooth long steps, looking as furious as he could while looking elegantly calm.

“What is the matter, mitting?” he asked, touching the back of her neck with the tips of his fingers, halting just behind her.

“Nothing,” she said quietly, lowering her eyes to the ground.

“What is the matter?” he asked, slow, deliberate. Terrifying.

“I...”

Gabriel took a hold of the back of her neck, her shoulders raising slightly to make it seem worse than it was.

“He...” Angela paused for a second to swallow, “he asked me if there was a way to free me.”

“A way to free you?” He held his voice level.

“Yes.”

“Say,” he began, speaking slowly again, “do you feel trapped with me?”

Angela took a moment to swallow hard again. “I do not.”

“Did you imply to this man that you are?”

“No.”

“Then he assumed unrightfully?” Gabriel asked.

No one answered.

“Is he at fault here?”

“He is not,” Angela whispered, seeking the man’s eyes.

“So you are at fault, mitting?”

“I am.”

Gabriel pursed his lips slightly. “Finish paying, then come upstairs. No dilly-dallying.”

“As you wish,” Angela said as Gabriel turned to make his way to the staircase.

“If I am dead tomorrow I am telling the devil it was you who killed me,” she promised, her eyes burning with ice.

The innkeeper looked frozen in place, taking the money he was giving but he didn’t stop staring, mouth slightly agape. “He...”

“He must have heard every word. He knows you are at fault. Pray he’ll just take it out on me for lying,” she hissed and turned to follow Gabriel up the stairs without looking back.

When Angela closed the door to their room behind her Gabriel caught Angela's eyes and waited for her quick nod, then he clapped his hands as loud as he could from where he was sitting on the single chair in the room and Angela let herself fall against the door, making it rattle in its hinges.

She grinned at him, taking off her cloak and hanging it on the door. “And you call me sadistic,” she said, keeping her voice low.

“You started it. And you told him I was going to kill you,” Gabriel said, leaning back in the woven chair.

“Because _you_ reacted like that.”

He shrugged slowly, grinning like a cat that has just gotten all the milk it could wish for. “Would you have wanted me to react differently?”

“Certainly not. I suppose we both have a sadistic side.”

“Is that news to you?”

She laughed breathily.

“So. Am I going to make you pay or am I not?” he asked, throwing a glass bottle her way.

She caught it easily and opened it to smell it. This would do well for her wounds.

“You probably should,” she placed the bottle on the ground so she couldn’t accidentally break it, sobbing a loud ‘no’ waiting for Gabriel’s clap again before screaming somewhat and sobbing a ‘please’ right after.

“Cruel, that’s what you are.”

“Birds of a feather, Gabriel. I keep repeating myself.”

They grinned at each other.

“We’ll leave early tomorrow morning, you a bit earlier than me,” Gabriel decided, mentioning to the bottle she had set on the floor. “You should get ready for bed.”

“And you should drop the bossy nonsense,” Angela said, not angry at all, getting to work on cleaning her wrist.

“This hurts like hell, you know that?” she complained.

“And now imagine what a bite would hurt like,” Gabriel said, not very sympathetic.

Angela grimaced but didn’t say anything. No need to tell him he was right.

“I’ll get just far enough for them to think you are actually leaving on your own, you better not ride past me.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“Lately? Not sure,” she admitted freely.

“That’s probably smart,” he agreed, “don’t worry though, I’ll pick you up. I promise.”

She nodded. If there was something she could always trust in it was that Gabriel’s pride wouldn’t let him break a promise.

He watched her get ready and into the surprisingly soft bed and waited for her to nod at him as permission to join her. As he always did.

She had told him once that if more men lived with the good manners most said they had, and Gabriel _actually_ possessed, she wouldn’t mind being around men so much. But unfortunately, she didn’t have much luck with men.

The bed was big enough for them to have their own space, and Gabriel took the woolen blanket with him, leaving the heavy blanket to Angela. They had shared a blanket before when Angela insisted that it would be fine, but a dead man sharing a blanket with a person that was getting cold easily wasn’t the best idea anyone has ever had.

He didn’t really need a blanket, but since he was at a good amount of strength at that moment he generated some body heat, which would make the blanket a nice asset to have.

“I wish I didn’t feel the cold,” Angela said for the millionth time.

“I feel temperatures.”

“I wish I was never cold,” Angela corrected herself.

Gabriel hummed non-committedly, feeling Angela relax next to him, drifting into sleep easily. She had gotten better at that, he noticed before sleep caught up to him as well.

 

* * *

 

 

(1) One Goldgulden would be worth about 330€ today, from what I could find on the internet.

(2) One Kreuzer would be worth about 7€ today.

(3) I tried to read up on the average life expectancy of the time and as it tunes out people made it to higher ages than school taught me. I wanted to place all of them at quite a young age still, though, so the age gap between them got tossed around a bit.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To any people who know anything about horses ... I'm sorry? Cause last time I was on a horse I was like seven. Big shoutout to Kimberly for trying to help me, though! Any feedback is more than welcome!!


	2. Until the Sea Takes Us In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not even going to try with excuses, also the next chapter might take just as long. Life happens, man, that's just what it is.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Are we going to sell the horses?” Angela asked as the first buildings of Rozstock came into sight on the horizon.

The thin veil of morning mist hung all around them, it had soaked them the previous night, so they had decided to get up early while it was still dark and rode all the way through dawn into the early morning hours. Angela was certain if they had spent another day on horseback she would have mixed something up that either killed her or her pain, either of those sounded good and dosages could be tricky.

“How long do you want to stay for and where do you want to go after we are done here? The question that needs to be answered is, will other means of transportation do.”

“We might have to run if we rob those poor rich people,” she mused.

“We could also stay here for a while, get a place of our own. You could get your books back,” he said.

“I believe we’re going to be living in a society that won’t like a witch in their midst, soon. The church is starting to really get into people’s heads. So settling down, while nice, probably won’t be easy for me.”

“The church?”

“They’ll only get more annoying, I can feel it,” she said, scrunching her nose a little.

“You would also have to travel to get your fix, or someone might notice a pattern.”

Gabriel hummed, looking at the city that lay in front of them. “So what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know what I want to do,” she said honestly. “Let’s get someplace for the horses to stay for a few nights, have a look around and think some things through.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” he agreed. He was aware that he would be the only one doing real thinking, controlling Angela’s impulses more than anything else, but he was used to that kind of dynamic.

“Do you know a place for us to stay at for a few nights?”

Gabriel thought about it for a moment before shrugging one shoulder. “I have a few ideas.”

“Thank goodness,” Angela said. “I can’t wait to sleep in a proper bed for more than one night at a time.”

“Who said anything about beds?”

“Gabriel,” Angela said, not whining at all. She was _not._

“Don’t worry,” he assured, “I’m tired of sleeping on the ground as well.”

“Do you know a good place for the horses?”

“They’ll sleep better than us, I can assure you of that.”

“Great,” Angela said curtly.

Gabriel laughed.

The city seemed to move closer rapidly, even at their medium pace. Angela looked around the grassy fields they were riding through, taking in the wet cold morning air. She could smell the sea already, even though it was nowhere in sight just yet. There was no rush and yet the hint of saltwater made her giddy on the inside. She wouldn’t have admitted that to anyone, least of all Gabriel, but that didn’t make it any less real.

“We should spend more time at the sea,” she said.

Gabriel hummed again, low but in agreement. He was glad that Angela had said that. He would have to spend less time building up to convince her that they should stay along the coast for a while.

The stable in front of the gates looked well kept and there were people working already, dragging around food and water in barrels and relocating horses.

Angela happily let Gabriel do the talking, as so many times before when they had been in public. Somehow he made everything, including the blanket, fit into the sailcloth bag and their belt bags, giving them the opportunity to leave the saddlebags with the horses. The man taking their in advance payment for two nights was friendly enough, not trying to get them to talk but answering questions and comments about the guards at the gate with seemingly genuine enthusiasm.

“There are lots of odd fellows in the city lately,” he told them when Gabriel inquired about the gate still looking closed even though the sun was up already. “Everyone is careful with all the privateers hiding in the city these days.”

“Such a fancy word for pirates.”

“They are in a sort of contract with the Hanse. They don't attack Hanseatic ships, only royal ships of Sweden, and they won't be punished when seeking shelter in the cities.”

Gabriel nodded. “This has been happening for quite some time. I heard of it in Lübeck.”

“Why didn't you inform me?” Angela asked. This was the first time she had heard about such contracts. Admittedly, she didn’t know the next thing about sailing and even less about pirates, but she was still interested, slightly taken aback that Gabriel didn’t share something as significant as this with her. It wasn’t of importance to them, at all, but it was still something she would have thought was worth talking about to the person you were scheming your life with. But maybe that was just her, whatever.

“What good would it have done? We haven't been on a ship in over a year and a half.”

She looked at him with annoyance for another moment before shrugging it off. “Perhaps you have a point.”

Gabriel nodded, picking up the bag easily and slinging it over one shoulder. “Come on.”

  


* * *

  


Walking for more than a hundred meters at a time had become weird over the last days, so Angela needed a while to readjust to using her legs as they were intended to. The ache in her muscles didn’t help one bit, either.

“I have never been in this kind of pain,” she complained, trying not to sound whiny at the same time.

“Lucky you,” Gabriel replied, voice completely void of any sympathy.

“Don’t be mean. Are you not hurting at all?”

“No.”

Angela sighed, letting it go for her own sanity.

The gate hadn’t changed at all, not that Angela expected it to have. But it was very much as impassable as it could be, even by the time they got up to it no one had unlocked it yet.

“So we’re just going to sit here for a few hours?”

Gabriel chuckled. “Patience is a virtue, Angela. We can knock and see if they’ll open up for us. Maybe they’re just overly careful, maybe they’re lazy.”

“Well, they shouldn’t be. Pirates come from the sea, not the land route.”

Gabriel chose to ignore her comment and fumbled in the sailcloth bag. “Have some bread. I’ll knock for you.”

She still looked annoyed but took the bread he offered her.

Gabriel knocked against the wood with the side of his fisted hand. “The sun is up and we’re cold!”

“Why are you cold when the sun is up?!” the response from the other side came immediately.

“Are you going to let us in?” Gabriel asked, somehow making his eye-roll audible in his voice.

“Why?”

“Because we’d like to stay in the city for a few nights.”

“Where are you going?”

“The city.” Gabriel rolled his eyes again.

“What do you do?”

“I teach.”

The window was opened and a scruffy looking man looked at them with tired eyes.

“What do you teach?” His voice sounded less annoyed without the heavy door between them.

Gabriel smiled at him as pleasantly as he could. “I home school kids, lately I specialized in cartography in Lübeck but I want to go back to teaching in my hometown.”

The man looked at him for a moment before letting his gaze wander to look at Angela, still having breakfast.

“Who is the woman?”

“My wife.”

“Children?”

“No such luck, yet.”

The man nodded. “Welcome back to Rozstock.”

The small window closed and Gabriel turned, looking at Angela and hearing the sound of the heavy gate behind him.

Angels quickly stuffed the last of her bread in her mouth. She smiled at the man, whereas Gabriel just nodded at him she gave him a lovely, clear ‘thank you’ as they entered the city.

The guard smiled back at her inclining his head as they passed him.

Angela wasn’t as familiar with the city as Gabriel. He really looked like he was coming home, whereas she looked around and tried to get as many impressions as she could. She had been there before, of course. She _found_ Gabriel here. But it had been a hurried stay and they left soon after he started breathing again, so she never had time to get to know the city for what it was. She would probably find her way around the city better at night than she did now during the day.

“Are we going to try and find an inn?” Angela asked.

Gabriel turned his head to look back at her. “No.”

“Then where _are_ we going?” she asked as he didn’t seem to want to elaborate of his own.

He turned his head back to look where they were going.

“I have a friend who rents out rooms. At least she used to, I don’t know if she is still around.”

“Are the rooms cheap?”

“Not for normal people.”

“So we’re paying lots of money for something we could get for cheap just as well? Gabriel, that is not like you.”

Gabriel shrugged. “We’ll _make_ a lot of money while we’re here. I don’t feel like being bitten by bed bugs while we’re here.”

“Nothing bites you,” Angela said more to herself than to Gabriel, but as _she_ actually did get bitten and stung by lots of things she was grateful for the fact that they were going to stay somewhere clean.

The building Gabriel guided them to was nothing like what Angela had expected. Then again, she really should have been expecting exactly this.

It had multiple stories, three if she wasn’t mistaken, and it was located in the better part of town, as well. And while Angela was well aware of the status Gabriel had had when he was still alive he seemed so unbothered by the dirt and discomfort their current life brought she sometimes pushed it aside in her mind.

There was no sign or any other kind of indicator that there were rooms for rent, the door looked sturdy and the windows had two panes of glass each. The street in front of the houses here was paved all the way through, no sand in sight.

“Who are these people?”

Gabriel shrugged, knocking on the door with the iron ring attached to it.

“So informative, Gabriel, thank you.”

He chuckled lowly, stepping back from the door. “This is the house of the Baggel family. Klaus Baggel was the brother of the now-mayor, and I used to teach both the kids. After her husband died Anna Baggel tried to make me fall for her. If she is still around she will give us a room for some nights.”

“Only after he died?” Angela joked.

“No,” Gabriel answered, shrugging again.

“Maybe she killed him to get with you.”

“I am not convinced she didn’t. She doesn’t know we could never have been happy.”

Angela hummed, dragging the coif off of her head and making it disappear into her pocket the moment the door was opened.

A young woman was holding it open, one hand holding a set of keys, the other on the wood of the door. Her entire face lit up as she recognized the former teacher of the family. “Magister Reyes!”

“Good morning Margret,” he said, smiling warmly. “Is there any chance to talk to Anna?”

“Of course, please step inside.” The young woman – Margret – looked like the event of the century just happened to her, blushing slightly. Angela was sure Anna wasn’t the only woman in the house crushing on Gabriel.

Gabriel nodded, looking back at Angela for a moment before following the invitation.

“Just a moment, you may wait in the salon,” Margret instructed, making her way to the stairs.

Gabriel turned to Angela as soon as the maid was out of earshot. “Why did you remove your coif?” He looked more puzzled than anything.

“I figured that if she was trying to bed you, telling her we are married wouldn’t be the best approach. You might want to introduce me as your friend or student instead.”

“You are right,” Gabriel simply said.

“That happens sometimes,” she smiled.

There were sounds above them, then hurried steps down the stairs before a beautiful woman in a pale blue dress stood in front of them, smiling brightly. She moved in to hug Gabriel, and while he didn’t seem terribly excited about it he hugged her back.

“Good morning Anna.”

“Gabriel! It really is you! It is so good to see you! How have you been?” She stepped back and smiled so so brightly.

“I worked in Lübeck for a while, then Hamburg. But you know how it is. The sea always calls to you when you’re landlocked.”

Anna nodded enthusiastically. “I could not live far from the sea for very long! Have you found a place to live, yet?”

“That what we were here to inquire about, actually.”

Anna looked at Angela as if it was the first time she had noticed her. It probably was. She did a bad job of masking the feelings washing over her. “I am so sorry. My name is Anna, please, I assume you are a friend of Gabriel’s?”

“I am!” Angela confirmed. “My name is Angela,” she said, lifting her dress as she would during curtsying, but remained standing upright.

Gabriel nodded, looking from Angela back to Anna. “She taught theology to some of the children I taught, as well, and has become a good friend since. I brought her here to show her the sea.”

“That is so lovely of you!” Anna exclaimed, clutching her hands in front of her chest. “And _of course_ you can stay here for as long as you need. Room three and five are empty until next Saturday.”

Gabriel nodded. “Five days should suffice to find another place to stay for longer,” he agreed. “Did you change your prices?”

“Oh Gabriel,” she made a fluid motion with her hand next to her head, “of _course_ you will not have to pay for the rooms.”

“I must insist, Anna. I cannot ask you to make all those expenses without any form of payment.”

“Gabriel, you haven't changed a bit,” Anna said, still clutching her hands together. “The prices haven't changed for you, I must insist on that.”

“I am willing to make that compromise,” Gabriel agreed, pulling a few coins from the sachet on his belt and counting them out before handing them over. Anna had always taken payment upfront, just like he had, and he really did intend on paying her after all. If they had to leave suddenly he wanted this out of the way at least.

Anna tugged away the offered money and smiled. “The keys are in the rooms, as they always were.”

Gabriel nodded, looking back at Angela. “Let us get settled in, yes?”

Angela nodded, smiling at Anna. “Thank you for taking us in at such short notice.”

“Of course! Friendships are important to me, and any friend of Gabriel's may be one of mine, if they desire,” it almost sounded genuine. Angela thought she detected a hint of jealousy in her voice, but she didn't dwell on it for the moment.

“Would you like to join Eva and me for breakfast?” Anna offered, turning to lead them up the staircase.

Even with all three of them on it, the wood didn't creak. It looks well kept, the oil painting of Anna and a young blond man and a darker haired girl looked skillfully made. She certainly wasn't doing too bad, even with her husband dead. Perhaps she had remarried but Angela seriously doubted it. She didn't seem like the type of woman that did well with a husband watching her every move; perhaps that was a reason she had been – and obviously still was – so interested in Gabriel. He knew how to give space to the people around him, he was quite charming if he wanted to be and just on the right side of intimidating. If he had been interested in women at all she would have tried her hardest to wed him, as he was great insurance for both life and a steady supply of money; if she asked him to get it.

At the end of the hall, there was a mirror, spanning everything from ceiling to floor. Angela took a mental note not to look into that direction during the night – mirrors were not a good thing to look at in the dark. Or during a full moon.

Gabriel noticed her looking at the reflective glass suspiciously and looked down to hide his smile.

She knew it amused him when she was scared of mirrors. She wasn’t really scared of them, but she wasn’t exactly fond of them either.

She had explained to him why she didn’t like them, once. That she saw things in them and that those things made her anxious at times. Apparently, it was what he always saw when looking in a mirror. He had told her to ‘just deal with it somehow’, and she had never brought it up again. Sensitive subject, alright.

Anna pushed open a door and stepped aside so Gabriel could enter the room he knew so well.

“You didn’t change a thing.”

“Well,” she smiled, “the sheets were changed.”

“By you?” Gabriel asked, sliding his fingers along one of the boards of the huge bookshelves lining the right side of the room.

Anna laughed behind him. “No, of course not. I have staff for that.”

Angela poked her head through the door, looking at the books appreciatively. On the left wall, there was a bed for two and a wardrobe, the wall opposite the door was holding two windows that flooded the room with light. In between them, there was a big desk made of dark wood. Angela could imagine Gabriel working and living in that room without a problem.

“Do you actually rent it out?” he asked, turning back to look at the women.

“I do, only to dear friends though. I wouldn’t trust just any stranger with your precious books, dear Gabriel.”

Angela rolled her eyes. Gabriel caught it but didn’t draw attention to it by looking past Anna or even scolding Angela for it, the teacher's role coming easily to him in this room.

“I believe they are safe here. Do you rent out to just anyone nowadays?”

“I do not, how could I? Without a proper man in the house…”

“Did Paulus move out already?”

“Oh Gabriel,” Anna sighed, clutching her hands over her heart again, “that is different! He cannot protect me!”

“Well, I believe we as women need to be able to protect ourselves,” Angela threw in, catching Anna’s attention

She looked at her as if she was startled, having forgotten about Angela’s presence altogether.

“Oh, but how could we? Women are not made to fight. For pain.”

Angela raised an eyebrow. “Talk for yourself, woman.”

“Do you fight for yourself?” she looked incredulous.

“I do if I have to,” Angela confirmed.

“But with a man like Gabriel on your side you don’t have to do that,” she assumed.

Angela shrugged. “I don’t. We don’t fight a lot. But if it comes to it I do my fair share of work.”

“I think it is important that everyone knows how to defend themselves if it comes to a dangerous situation,” Gabriel said, taking on some of his teacher-voice again, sounding a lot like he was scolding Anna.

Anna simply sighed and shrugged, not wanting to argue with Gabriel. “I will wait for the two of you at the table. You still find your way around, I suppose?”

Gabriel nodded. “Thank you, Anna.”

Angela waited for Anna’s footsteps to announce she had reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped up to the bookcase. “Are all of these actually yours?”

“They are,” Gabriel confirmed, stepping next to Angela after he had shrugged off his coat, hanging it in its place inside the wardrobe.

“Did you read all of them?” she looked up at him, trying not to be jealous.

“I did,” Gabriel confirmed again, smiling. “You can read whichever one you want, but they will not leave this house.”

“Deal,” she agreed and pulled out one that caught her eye. “Is this just what being a teacher is like, or did you buy an exceptionally huge about of books because you could?”

“Do you need an answer for that?”

“No, not really.”

“Would you like to see your room before we go downstairs to have breakfast?”

“Can I take this with me?” she held up the book she had taken out of the tall bookshelf.

“Of course.” Gabriel stepped back towards the door. “It’s just further down the hall.”

“It’s by the huge mirror, isn’t it?”

“Better not to leave your room at night,” Gabriel confirmed.

Angela sighed and followed Gabriel into the hallway, waiting for him to lock up his own door before they walked to the end of the hallway together.

Gabriel pushed open the last door of the hallway.

Much to Angela’s surprise, the room matched Gabriel’s in size and light. It looked vastly the same, minus the unbelievable number of books.

“This will be the best we have lived in a long time,” Angela said, sitting down on the big bed.

“It certainly will be. Margret’s cooking is exquisite, as well,” Gabriel assured.

“Who is Eva?” Angela asked, putting the book down next to her on the bedside table.

“Eva is Anna’s daughter, one of my former students.”

“And Paulus is her son?” Angela assumed.

Gabriel nodded. “He is. I taught him as well.”

“They must be smart children then.”

“That is probably the most genuinely nice compliment I have ever heard coming out of your mouth. Towards me, that is.”

“I’m nice like that,” Angela said.

“Are you hungry?” Gabriel asked, offering a hand to her.

Angela nodded, taking the offered hand and getting up. “Let me just take off my cloak.”

Gabriel stepped around her, taking it from her before its hem could hit the floor, hanging it onto the hook meant to hold the cloaks of residents by the door.

“Can I get out of this breakfast and just read?” Angela sighed, taking the arm Gabriel offered to her before locking her own door with the key that had been sitting on the table inside her room.

“I’m afraid Anna wouldn’t enjoy that kind of reason.”

“She would enjoy any reason to get some alone time with you.”

“Maybe,” Gabriel agreed. “But Eva is with us anyway.”

Angela hummed. “Gabriel, I just thought of something.”

“And what would that be?”

“Don’t they believe that you are dead? Your body just … disappeared with me. How are they not confused?”

Gabriel smiled. “I had thought that maybe I’ll need to keep some ties, so I can call in favours. I wrote a letter to Anna, about two weeks after we disappeared. I explained to her that I had been almost dead, but I was brought to see a physician in Lübeck who could miraculously help me. She is a very God-fearing woman, and in the letter that I received back, she told me how she knew that her prayers could save me. She also told me that I could visit her whenever I got the chance.”

“You kept in contact all this time?”

“No,” he shook his head. “We only exchanged that one letter, and I burned hers as soon as I read it.”

“Why would you?”

“I didn’t care for it. And what else would I have done with it?”

  


* * *

  


“You are going out?” Anna asked, following them to the front door.

Gabriel opened the door for Angela, letting her step outside first before turning to Anna and nodding.

“Why wouldn't we?” Angela chimed before Gabriel got a word out.

“It isn’t the safest of times to wander around the city,” Anna informed. “There are currently two pirate ships resting on roadstead waiting for permission to enter spots on the wharf.”

“Well if they are stuck on roadstead they won’t be a problem to us,” Angela argued, sounding sweet as a summer’s day and smiling.

“We might still encounter some,” Gabriel said, “but don’t fright, Anna, we have encountered many dangerous people on our travels, we will be fine.”

“You know I want to trust your judgment, Gabriel, I do…”

“Since you aren’t coming with us it won’t matter,” Angela said and turned to look down the street. “Shall we, Gabriel?”

“See you soon, Anna. Don’t worry about our safety, it won’t do any good.”

Anna sighed and nodded, hugging Gabriel. Gabriel raised one hand to pat her back lightly and pulled away quickly.

He caught up with Angela who had started walking without waiting for him; quite frankly, she had gotten impatient with Anna. Too much of her insulting behaviour would lead to murder if Angela didn’t walk away.

“Why is she getting to you like that?” Gabriel asked when he caught up.

“She should leave you be already.”

“Are you jealous?” there was real incredibility in his voice. He had been sure Angela was in no way interested in having a romantic relationship with him.

“Don’t flatter yourself, I am not jealous. It bothers me that she chooses to ignore the complete lack of interest you have in her.”

Gabriel hummed. “It is what it is. I needed access to my old room, and this was the only real way I saw.”

“Why did you need access?”

Gabriel took a moment to look around them. “I own plans to all official government buildings, and if we’re going to infiltrate the parties of the rich and important we might want to know how to quickly leave in case we are found touching something we shouldn’t.”

“We won’t get caught,” Angela said, slightly impressed nonetheless.

“And that mindset is why I am the one planning these things.”

Angela pursed her lips slightly. “I won’t say you’re wrong.”

“I know.”

“I won’t say you are right, either.”

“I am aware,” Gabriel assured.

“Good,” Angela nodded once.

“So do you have a special destination in mind?” Angela asked, raising a hand to fix some stubborn hair that tried to fall into her eyes one too many times.

Gabriel took a moment to think before answering. “There is a tavern I frequented. Maybe it is still around.”

“What do we have to lose, right?”

“We only have things to gain. It is a very upscale tavern, lots of people with too much gold for their own good,” Gabriel said, smiling to himself.

“Sounds like our kind of place to spend the evening,” Angela agreed. “Is it far from here?”

“Not at all. It shouldn’t take us more than a few minutes - in case you want to have a little fun tonight, I’m guessing that is a good thing.”

“I will not get intoxicated tonight,” Angela assured. “What use would I be if my fingers slipped?”

“Oh? Are you planning on doing any of the real work for once tonight?” Gabriel said with a rather confusing mixture of amusement and mockery.

“I do an important part of the work at all times,” Angela objected.

“Of course. You observe and command.”

“That is not true.”

“Is it not?”

Angela pointedly looked at the ground. “Maybe it is a little true. But you don’t seem to mind it enough to say anything about it.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Why would I mind?”

“It just seemed like you minded.”

“I was simply mocking you,” he informed her.

Angela scoffed. “Oh well, that is better then.”

“Yes, I know.”

Gabriel stirred them to the right as they reached a four-way crossing. There were few people out on the streets, which seemed rather peculiar to Angela. The night was still far from falling over the town.

“Are there usually this few people around this part of town?”

Gabriel shook his head. “Most definitely not. I’m guessing it’s the vague threat of pirates in the city that keeps people inside.”

Angela nodded along. “I believe you might be right. Though it is silly, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“Their fear of these pirates. They are only humans, as everyone else here is.”

Gabriel turned his head to look at Angela. “They are humans, maybe. But they are making a living by killing and robbing other people, that seems scary to most normal thinking people.”

“It’s silly.”

“Not everyone is a sabre-wielding necromancer,” Gabriel noted.

“I don’t ‘wield a sabre’, Gabriel.”

“You could if you wanted to.”

“Of course I could,” she agreed, “but since I am not carrying one on me I don’t know how that would be of any use to me.”

“It pains me that you do not seem to believe I could take one off of the pirate pointing it at me.”

“Since when do you care about what I think about you?”

“You are right, I haven’t cared about that in a very long time.”

“And if you don’t care it can’t hurt you, can it?”

Gabriel sighed. “Did I ever mention being deadly annoyed by you?”

“Every now and then,” Angela confirmed, grinning.

“I hope you are aware that I always am in that state of mind, even if I don’t mention it to you.”

“I am aware, beloved Gabriel, and I do not care in the least.”

Gabriel nodded, feigning an exasperated sigh. “If you did you would try to change your annoying behaviour.”

“Would I?”

“I am not actually sure if you are human enough for that, to be frank with you.”

“I can assure you that I am not certain of that myself. Maybe we should get a real human being to tell us how human emotions work, what do you think?”

Gabriel chuckled. “How could they tell you how real emotions work if you emotionally scar them beforehand?”

“Who said anything about emotionally scarring them?”!

“How else would you get them to follow you to a secluded place?”

Angela gasped, pressing a hand to her chest. “Gabriel! You insult me. I believe we are both very much capable of making people follow us to secluded places.”

“Perhaps you are right,” Gabriel nodded, “You do seem to follow me wherever I go rather willingly.”

“And in turn, you go wherever I direct you to, so we have proof of our charms working just fine, don’t we.”

“Well...” Gabriel hummed, “we were talking about _human beings_ before, weren’t we? It seems to me that we have insufficient information on that.”

“What are you talking about? Have you forgotten about all the humans we lured with us?”

“That happened maybe thrice, Angela.”

“And it worked three out of three times. That seems like sufficient information to me.”

The voices from inside the tavern washed out onto the street every time the door was opened. Gabriel stopped them a few feet from the entrance to pick up parts of the conversations going on inside, but it bled into one big loud mess, and he could only make out a few words that sounded like there were some games of dice and cards being played inside.

“For how empty the streets are … there are a lot of people drinking here. Has it always been this busy?”

“It hasn’t,” Gabriel informed. “It used to be rather sophisticated. As sophisticated as a tavern can be, that is. It has never been this loud, either.”

“Maybe the men are running from their duties, hiding here instead of being any good raising the children,” Angela said, scoffing.

“We’ll see,” Gabriel said, purposely bumping into a drunk that came stumbling out of the tavern. The man wore a green coat of soft, fine-woven linen with shiny buttons.

“Watch where you’re going!” the man bellowed at Gabriel.

“With all due respect, you bumped into me,” Gabriel said, keeping his voice level and holding onto the man as to keep him from falling.

“Get your hands off of me!”

Gabriel complied, letting the man carry his own weight. It had him stumbling into the wall immediately, but Gabriel just stepped around him, crowding close to Angela as if to simply avoid the drunk on the sidewalk. He slipped his hand closest to Angela into her pocket, efficiently hiding the money he had just taken. It was the fuller one of two coin bags, Gabriel guessed the man had been cut off by the barman who didn’t feel like cleaning up bodily fluids rather than for having run out of money.

Angela felt the added weight in her dress-pocket, moving her skirts slightly to move the bag of coins further down in the deep pockets.

She smiled at him as Gabriel held open the door for her, assessing the situation inside the tavern quickly. “Perhaps we should have gotten some weapons before getting here.”

“You talk as if we weren’t carrying tools that kill at all times,” Gabriel reminded her as if she could have forgotten about it somehow.

“You know damn well what I am talking about.”

Gabriel took a quick look around the room himself. It was quite smoky from the fire dancing in the stove and the close to a hundred men and women smoking at their tables. The ceiling was low enough that Gabriel had to be careful around the wooden beams; had he been a few centimetres taller he would have to bend slightly just to walk around the room.

There really were lots of games going on between huge jugs of what he guessed was beer and wine, maybe rum. He had expected some noblemen and maybe some better off visitors to the city. They were all there, in fact. Though they were keeping to themselves in one of the back corners.

The bigger part of the crowd drinking was heavily armed, loud and cheerful. It was such a stark contrast to the brooding glances and weary whispers of the noblemen in the back that it almost seemed like there was a wall between them that Gabriel just couldn’t see – hadn’t it been for the smoke passing through the entirety of the tavern.

“Pirates,” Gabriel stated, low enough that only Angela could hear him.

“I am aware of that, thank you.”

“Well, so much for ‘we won’t encounter them anyway’, then.”

“They seem like a good time, don’t you think?”

“They do,” Gabriel agreed, stepping further into the room.

Angela quickly led the way towards one of the tables that had unoccupied chairs on it, making sure that Gabriel was always following close behind her. She placed a hand on the back of one of the chairs and waited for someone to look at her. She quickly grabbed all of the attention, four pairs of eyes lay on her in just a matter of seconds.

“Do you have room for two more?” she asked a woman that looked tiny in between the two people seated at her sides, yet she seemed to take up more space than any of her companions on the table, having an air of importance and knowledge about her that Gabriel couldn’t help but find intriguing.

One of the people seated next to here was a man that made even Gabriel feel short. If he had to guess he would have said that the man had at least a foot on him in height, maybe even more. The woman to her other side, a stern-looking redhead with a smirk that made him uneasy, was slim but tall; something about her seemed off but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly. From next to the redhead a beautiful young woman with a striking similarity to the first woman was looking at them curiously, no doubt assessing the threat either of them could be to them.

“Take your seat if you can pay your own,” the first woman said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

The man that had been taking food and drink to the tables ever since they had entered the room approached them as Gabriel was still adjusting in his chair. Angela had chosen to sit next to the dark-haired woman, which left him next to the giant with the surprisingly kind eyes.

“Drinks? Food?”

Gabriel looked up at the man that now stood at their table, looking equal parts scared and annoyed, which was a quite impressive look to pull off. Gabriel cast a glance at Angela who nodded, fishing for a few coins in her pocket already.

“Chicken if you have any, potatoes too. Beer for my friend and wine for me, keep the drinks coming for the table,” Gabriel instructed. He took the coins from Angela, giving them to the man looking somewhat curious now.

He quickly took the gold coins, nodding enthusiastically. “Of course, holler if you need something else.”

Everyone at their table seemed vastly more interested in them suddenly.

“You seem to be well off. You must have good honest work for this generosity,” the redhead said, still smirking.

“Honest work doesn’t get you this kind of money,” Gabriel said, smirking right back at her, glancing at the man next to him that barked a laugh that was loud enough to drown out most of the other voices.

“Then what does?” the woman next to Angela inquired.

“You don’t seem like the kind of people that need to be told.”

“Then like what kind of people do we look?”

Angela smiled at her crookedly. “The kind that knows how to live a life worth its time.”

“We don’t have eternity, after all,” the woman next to the giant said with a level voice, not blinking once as she looked at Gabriel.

“Indeed most people don’t,” Gabriel agreed, holding her gaze just as unblinking.

“Why don’t you tell us who you are?” the woman prompted.

“Without knowing you? Why would we?”

The drinks and food were set down on the table in between them, but it didn’t prompt either of them to break their staring match.

“To your left is my dear husband and quartermaster, Reinhardt. To my left, we have Moira, a trusted part of my crew. Next to your friend is my daughter, Fareeha, captain of the _Walküre_ sitting on roadstead.”

Gabriel nodded along. “And who would you be.”

“Our year-long captain of the _Sturmjäger,_ currently on roadstead as well. Ana has been a good leader for years,” Moira answered for her.

“It seems like you suspect us of sorcery,” Angela said, smiling at Ana knowingly.

“Why would you say such a thing?”

“If you do not, tell me your own name.”

“Why would you say such a thing if it wasn’t the truth? No one would jump to that conclusion immediately,” Ana said, smirking now.

“They do say sailors are very superstitious folks. It seems to hold true,” Angela said.

“We have seen too much to not be,” Reinhardt said, it was the first thing he said at all.

Gabriel nodded at him, ripping off one of the legs of the bird on the table in front of him. “I’m Gabriel, that is Angela.” He took a bite and found Ana’s eyes again.

“So you are not afraid of witchcraft it seems,” she stated, taking a sip of her wine.

“Some people are beyond being cursed.”

“Those usually are the most dangerous people, Gabriel. We might have some space for you if you are interested.”

“Let us get through the night before you make any offers, shall we?” Gabriel said, picking at the bone before throwing it back onto the plate, slipping a knife out of one of his sleeves to pick up one of the potatoes.

“For your sake or ours?” Ana asked, eyeing the sleeve Gabriel had slipped the knife from for a moment.

Gabriel shrugged one shoulder, not commenting on it any further. Instead, he pretended to inspect the potato, pealing of some of the skin and trying it. His attention, however, was on Angela; she had picked up a conversation with the other two women on the table. It was hard to tell which one of them seemed to be more of her type. Angela didn’t seem to have types when it came to women. Somehow she managed to find something good in just about any woman.

Any woman but Anna, he thought, suppressing a smile.

“How do both mother and daughter manage to hold their own ship for so long? The captain is determined by the crew, aren’t they?” Angela had one elbow on the table, turning away from Gabriel to point all of her attention on Fareeha.

“They are. If a crew is dissatisfied with a captain a new one can be elected,” Fareeha confirmed.

“It was just some rumours I heard,” Angela explained. “I think it is much fairer that way. Just because someone has worked up to a certain title they don’t become a good or fair leader.”

Gabriel took another potato to not frown at Angela. He rarely saw her this … open. It was almost scary that she wasn’t acting distant with this strange woman at all. He knew she must have a higher motive for her actions, she always did after all. But if he had to guess he would have dared to say that they would end up following Ana’s invitation. They could always leave if Angela changed her mind, and even though there didn’t seem to be much in it for him, they might as well, right? What else was waiting for them anyway?

“We are expecting permission to enter the harbour tonight,” Ana said, seemingly not caring if Gabriel actually paid attention to her.

Gabriel turned his head to look at her. “So?”

“Should you make up your mind about joining one of us you are very welcome to visit us at the docks before we leave.”

“Who is making that decision?”

“I am.”

“Since when are you allowed to do that without the majority of your crew backing you up?” Gabriel asked, looking at her knowingly.

Ana gave him a small smile that greatly unsettled him for some reason. “It’s a way of a … trial-permission. Should my crew disagree with me, we can always put you back on land.”

“Or on the bottom of the sea?”

“Now why would we do that?” Moira asked, obviously not opposed to the idea even though she was questioning it.

Gabriel looked at her for a handful of heartbeats. “Convenience.”

“He is a smart one. He has got my vote to stay,” Reinhardt informed, clapping a huge hand on Gabriel’s back. The unexpected force behind it threw Gabriel forward a bit, but he caught himself before he could make a fool out of himself by kissing the table with his entire face.

At his side, Angela seemed oblivious to the conversation Gabriel was having.

She had her full attention on the young captain, trusting Gabriel to inform her if they had to leave suddenly. Gabriel wasn’t sure if Angela had indeed found real interest in the other woman or if she was just scheming in her mind to use Fareeha as a tool to their advantage, but usually, the line between the two was blurry with Angela anyway. If there was one at all. After all, true interest could be motivated by many things.

“Don’t you ever feel cramped in on a ship with that many other people?” Angela asked, taking a sip of wine.

Fareeha shook her head once in a negating gesture. “For a ship, it is quite spacious. Our crews are quite small, so we have lots of space per capita.”

“Sailing with small crews against the steadily growing military guidance the Hanse gets on their cogs seems like a dangerous thing to do,” Angela commented, looking at Fareeha intently.

“And yet we are still around,” Fareeha said, smiling crookedly.

Angela smiled back at her. “Are you just that good?”

“It seems like it.”

“How many men do you have aboard?”

“About forty each. We don’t ever take more than fifty with us.”

Angela nodded, smiling with satisfaction at how willingly Fareeha was volunteering information to her.

“How many soldiers are aboard a common ship of prey?”

“Most beds are taken up by travellers and sailors that work for the merchants themselves. There usually are surprisingly few soldiers with them.”

Angela hummed. “It seems quite stupid to choose wares over soldiers, don’t you think?”

“That depends on how you look at it,” she took a swing from the wine in front of her. “Soldiers cost money. Wares make it.”

“Losing a full ship of spices or fabric or whatever else it is they carry seems to have higher costs than employing a handful of soldiers, doesn’t it.”

“Yet it isn’t every ship they lose and as long as enough of them make their way into their designated harbours, soldiers will continue to be too expensive.”

“That will change. They will give you a hard time sooner or later.”

“Let them try,” Fareeha said, shrugging. “Besides. We don’t sail against Lübeck or Rozstock at the moment.”

“You do not?”

“We have made contracts. Haven’t you heard?”

“I have. I just didn’t think you would keep your side of it. It seemed more probable that you take their money or freedom or whatever they offer and keep on with your usual ... occupations.”

Fareeha made a non-committed noise, drinking instead of answering.

Gabriel inclined his head to look at Reinhardt. To really look at him, for the first time. He had strong features and the scars his face wore didn’t do any damage to how attractive he was. His posture was surprisingly good. Gabriel had noticed the huge sword he carried when they had first arrived; truth be told it was the only thing he had really taking close note of at first.

He was sitting on the wrong side, so he wasn’t able to take a closer look at the weapon. Which was most unfortunate in his opinion.

“Who did you take that sword off of?” Gabriel asked without taking his eyes off of Reinhardt’s face.

He looked down at his hip and then over to meet Gabriel’s eyes with his own, smiling broadly. “A very talented blacksmith. He forged it for me a long time ago.”

“For you?”

“Paid and all.”

Gabriel hummed. “What a curious story.”

“I put my last money into it before I took to the sea with Ana,” he smiled and turned his cup on the table in front of him. It made a small scratching sound with every part of a turn, which Gabriel picked up even over the mess of voices and clinking cutlery and plates.

He lowered his own gaze onto his wine, finishing it in one go and motioning to one of the women to be brought some more.

The whole table was given a new round of what they had been drinking before, and Gabriel leaned back to make some room for the woman serving them.

“This is an invasive question, I am aware,” Gabriel looked at Reinhardt again. “What did you do before you took to sailing?”

“There are many impoverished knights around, these days. I had the misfortune of being one of them.”

“But I would not have found you if you hadn’t gone north for work. So is it not a fortunate situation after all?” Ana asked, raising one of her brows in their direction and smiling knowingly.

“It seems to be both at once, indeed,” Reinhardt agreed and smiled right back at her. His face was conveying and of love and adoration that Gabriel had rarely seen on someone’s face out of the context of money or land. He wasn’t convinced Reinhardt knew of the expressiveness of his features, but he also didn’t seem like the type of person to care much about what his face was saying. With arms like his and a sword to match in his line of work it most likely didn’t matter how much someone knew about him. If he wanted them dead he would have them dead.

“Those kinds of situations seem rather common nowadays,” Moira chimed in suddenly.

“Maybe they just are with our kind of people,” Gabriel said, looking between the three pirates.

“Where I used to work in an earlier life I rarely came across situations that would be called fortunate misfortune.”

“Really?” Ana began. “What did you do in your earlier life, Gabriel?”

“I taught.”

“What did you teach?”

“Everything between literature, mathematics and cartography.” Gabriel volunteered the answer without much of a second thought. Being an educated man rarely made one an important target, at least as long as there were no ties to the church or a particularly wealthy family.

“We have lost a very important man a few weeks back, whom we haven’t been able to replace just yet and you seem to just fit the requirements for his position,” Ana informed Gabriel, with a tone of voice that almost seemed disinterested.

Gabriel looked through it regardless.

“Would that have anything to do with my mentions of cartography?”

Ana caught the glint in Gabriel’s eyes, throwing it back to him effortlessly and dropping her act of indifference. “Yes, indeed. Are you experienced in the position of a sailing-master, by any chance?”

“Whom would I be sailing under?” Gabriel asked instead of answering Ana’s question.

“My daughter and I are currently depending on my own sailing-master since hers has gone for a dip under her ship. It would be a pleasant situation for all people involved if someone qualified would make it onto her ship again.”

“And why would you tell me this so freely?” Gabriel questioned, taking a sip from his wine.

Ana’s lips dragged into a small smile. “Sometimes you have to volunteer information to get things your way, especially when dealing with careful folks such as you.”

Gabriel nodded and turned his attention to Fareeha who had been listening to the conversation, looking at Angela for a moment before addressing the younger captain. “I am sure you understand when I inform you that I simply cannot leave a companion as dear as Angela behind.”

“I understand what you are saying,” Fareeha assured. “And I myself would not be opposed to having a beautiful woman join me on my journeys, however that must be justified with the crew.”

Gabriel nodded once again and kept his face neutral. Out of his peripheral, he could see Angela’s lips twitching at the compliment, a measured reaction of hers that was meant to look like a suppressed feeling of pride and happiness, Gabriel was sure. Angela didn’t react to these kinds of words unless she wanted to give the person saying them a false sense of hope.

“Let me ask you something,” Gabriel requested.

“Go ahead,” Fareeha agreed, leaning forwards slightly as Gabriel did.

“How many good men and women have you lost that you wished you hadn’t?”

“Too many,” she informed simply.

“Why do you not have a physician on board then?” Gabriel inquired, still not putting any emotion onto his face.

Fareeha shrugged. “We tried, twice. Both of them were killed as soon as confrontation arose. And after a proper fight, no physician will be able to bring back those that were the most useful to us, anyway.”

Gabriel grinned and clicked his tongue once. “Most physicians aren’t, you are correct.” He relaxed, leaning back in his chair and looking at Angela. “Though I’ll promise you one thing. Angela holds her own all the while dragging someone to safety and fixing them back up. If there is such a thing as immunity to the flu she has reached it by now and she will not hesitate before cutting off a limb to save a life, with her own hands and no hesitation in sight. Does that sound like someone you could make use of?”

Fareeha looked between the two of them for a few moments, then she mirrored Gabriel’s relaxed state. It had not escaped her how he had admitted to ‘most physicians aren’t able to bring back the dead’, and if what he was saying about Angela was true she would be the most useful addition to the crew in years.

“That sounds like good grounds for employment,” Fareeha agreed.

“If, of course, you won’t jump ship at the next opportunity for personal gain. Loyalty is a very important trait to us,” Moira said, running her finger along the rim of her cup and looking at Angela from where she had slightly lifted her chin in contemplation.

Angela met here with just as much level challenge in her gaze. “And if there is nothing else to be said about us, there will always be the trait of loyalty.”

“To whom?” Moira asked without missing a beat. She was apparently good at what she did and Angela understood why she had been introduced as a ‘trusted part of the crew’.

Angela inclined her head slightly, smiling. “To ourselves, first, as anyone should be.”

“Well, how is there any left for us, then?”

Gabriel looked at Angela, keeping his mouth shut and trying to evaluate the reactions of all the people sitting around their table. Angela was clearly intriguing to Moira, though sympathy wasn’t a word that Gabriel would have used to describe what Moira seemed to feel for Angela.

“One could argue that there is no loyalty to others without complete loyalty to the self,” Angela said, clearly unimpressed by the challenge that was given by Moira.

Moira smiled in a way that was more preying than anything else. “And how would one support this argument if they chose to bring a statement like that to the table?”

“One cannot be loyal to another person if they are not loyal to themselves. Because if they are not loyal to themselves, they haven’t found themselves yet or they choose to change themselves depending on the situation or person they encounter. How can there be true loyalty if a person changes themselves constantly with only the goal of personal gain, being reckless about and to everyone around them? The answer is, there can’t be any. Hence why loyalty to the own person is a base requirement for loyalty to other people.”

“So answer the question then,” Moira prompted. Clearly, she hadn’t expected such a thorough or prepared answer to her question, but she was hiding her surprise well.

“Which question would that be?” Angela asked for clarification.

“To whom will you be loyal?” Moira asked with more patience than Gabriel would have expected from her.

“To those important to us, to those who we rely on for safety and companionship. To those important to us.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you are incredibly bad at giving straight answers?” Fareeha asked, not without amusement in her voice.

Angela shrugged lazily, hinting at a smile. “I prefer calling it good at frustrating people into giving up.”

“Let me rephrase my question. Will you be loyal to us?” Moira asked, still not taking her eyes off of Angela, clearly not including anyone else in the conversation.

“We will be loyal to you.”

“As long as we serve the purpose you search?” Moira assumed.

Angela smiled. “Will you as a crew, be loyal towards Gabriel and me?”

Now Moira smiled, flashing her teeth. “As long as you serve the right purpose.”

Angela smiled back at her and raised her glass, drinking as Moira clinked it.

“You seem like the loyal type, Moira,” Gabriel said and looked at her with amusement as she smiled back at him immediately.

“Don’t be fooled, Gabriel, I might be a loyal person but I don’t trust easily.”

“Oh no, I will not ask trust off of you. You are smarter than that, surely. You wouldn’t be still alive if you blindly trusted in words.”

“Though I wouldn’t be alive today if I didn’t trust anyone. I sleep at night because I trust the judgment of my captain and the abilities of the night watches.”

“You trust them to keep you alive for the moment. But do you trust them to have your best interest in mind?”

Moira took a sip, hiding her smile behind her cup. “I am smarter than that.”

“Help yourself, then God will help you,” Ana said with a level voice, repeating something Gabriel had heard many pirates lived by.

“But you would still say you are loyal to them?” he questioned, an edge to his voice that Angela knew all too well, but that would slip by most people.

Moira raised her brows. “Of course. I would die for them before I would let any of us be taken.”

“If you dying would mean they could get away, would you leave this world for them?”

“Just as any of them would for me.”

“That wasn’t a yes,” Gabriel observed.

“I am aware,” Moira smiled. “It informed you that it would depend on the person.”

“Then why would you expect a general decision about loyalty from us?” Angela asked.

The smile disappeared from Moira’s face as she turned to look at Angela. “You claimed to be educated people. What good is knowing words from a book if you are not able to form an opinion that is your own and a codex to live by?”

“Consider me impressed,” Angela admitted. “You have had some education yourself, I take it?”

Moira nodded but didn’t comment on it any further.

“Speaking of a codex,” Fareeha picked up the conversation effortlessly. “There will be some rules you will have to follow aboard. Would you like to receive them in written form?”

Angela looked at Gabriel for a moment before answering. “That will not be necessary. Just let us know what we will have to be mindful of.”

Fareeha didn’t know what Angela saw in his face, but apparently, it was enough for her to evaluate his answer and form her own thoughts on it. She was curious to learn more about the relationship the two of them had but that wasn’t the centre of attention at the moment.

She looked at Ana, who nodded curtly and Fareeha looked at Angela, then at Gabriel. “So you are planning on going with us?”

“I cannot say we have made that decision yet,” Gabriel said. Always leave yourself a way out until you have thought things through. Or until your awfully impulsive companion made a decision for you.

“Then we will hold out on our information until you have decided,” Fareeha said and drained her cup anew.

“Understandable,” Gabriel agreed, nodding once.

Ana seemed interested in Gabriel’s studies and teachings, so he left Fareeha to talk to Angela again. She seemed vastly more interested in her anyway. Gabriel quickly turned the asking-game on Ana, though, inquiring about a particularly infamous pirate.

“He supposedly has plans to cross over to the western sea,” Ana said freely. “His former mentor already did, apparently they are hiding out on Heligoland for the moment.”

“The island?”

“Yes,” Ana confirmed. A bunch of fishermen live there, no military, no plans for it either.

“The fishermen are profiting from their presence then, I’m guessing?”

“Greatly so,” Ana confirmed again. “Definitely enough for them to not only accept them there without alerting the military but even enough to offer more room to more pirates. We have been thinking about following suit.”

“Why haven’t you, yet?”

“The same reason as for why Klaus Störtebeker is still scaring our parts of the world. The situation with the Hanse is still rather profitable and not dangerous enough to bail just yet.”

“Some think differently, apparently,” Gabriel said, holding his cup out to be refilled.

“They do. And perhaps it is the smart thing to do. But perhaps it is rather dumb of them.”

“So how do you know that you’re making the right decision?”

“We don’t,” Ana admitted. “The way we see it, life is like a game of dice. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. And when you lose big enough … well, there is always one thing that is certain.”

“What would that be?” Gabriel asked, not being able to resist his curiosity.

“Death may always be around the next corner, and one misstep will make you stumble into it. And if you do, it will be the least expensive thing you ever did in your life. Death is inexpensive, free even.”

Gabriel thought about that for a moment, giving it enough time for his cup to be refilled. “What about the rumours regarding Störtebeker’s state of life?”

Ana smiled knowingly. “I was there when the sword went through his heart, right from the back. It was one of the people he trusted most, selling his life for gold.”

“And yet he is sailing the seas as one of the most feared pirates of our lifetime,” Gabriel said.

“Indeed.”

“How do you explain that?”

“His little friend, a former teacher, has always been said to have ties to the Devil and His sorcery. I suppose I don’t need to tell you how the story goes from there.”

“With all due respect, now you are simply assuming things about us, captain,” Gabriel said, smiling in a way that made Ana doubt herself for a moment.

“Will you at least admit to sorcery?” she asked.

“Would that give us any advantages?”

“No.” She looked at him. “It would not make for disadvantages either.”

“I prefer not to admit to anything, then, if that is alright with you.”

“It is not, but I won’t be able to change your mind, I suppose.”

“You would be right about that,” Gabriel agreed and smiled at her.

Ana nodded, turning to her drink before catching someone's eye. Said someone was standing some steps behind Gabriel, clearly communicating something to Ana, then to Fareeha who had noticed the person as well. Neither Gabriel nor Angela let their curiosity get the better of them, pretending to be unfazed by the sudden change of mood.

“It was nice meeting you,” Ana began, draining her cup and rising from her seat. “Please think about seeing us again, you will be very welcome, I promise you that much.” She left with Reinhardt in tow, who seemed rather graceful even when ducking under the low ceiling.

Suddenly all games seemed finished, all cups were drained and people shuffled out of the room swiftly and quicker than Angela would have expected.

Fareeha stood and smiled down at Angela. “We’re getting off of roadstead. We’ll leave by tomorrow night so don’t give it too much thought.” She curtsied, grabbed Angela’s hand and kissed it swiftly, before skipping after her crew, leaving Moira behind to look at Gabriel for a long moment.

Gabriel held her gaze, not making a move to say anything.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Moira said eventually, inclining her head instead of the mock-curtsy Fareeha had given. As she stood, it was obvious how tall she actually was, having to bend slightly as not to hit the ceiling. Not nearly as much as Reinhardt had needed to, but she was clearly taller than Gabriel.

“My pleasure, Moira. See you soon.”

“Will you?” she asked without audible interest and turned to leave with measured steps before either of them could say anything else.

“She just kissed my hand.” Angela looked at Gabriel with honest bafflement.

“And you just let her,” Gabriel raised an eyebrow, somewhere between challenge and doubt about Angela’s state of mental well-being.

For as loud as it had been there suddenly wasn’t a sound in the tavern, besides the fire in the stove and the steady drips of a tipped over cup of wine, staining the floor red.

“What do we owe you?” Gabriel asked the man quickly walking around the room to clear off the tables.

“Nothing, if anything you paid me too much.”

“Keep it,” Gabriel said and looked at Angela.

She nodded sharply and rose from her chair, taking the arm Gabriel offered to her and following him outside.

“Are we going to join them?” Angela asked, just as the cool night air hit them.

“You made up your mind about that a long time ago.” It wasn’t a question.

“Indeed. But we had plans here, that is why you didn’t want to agree to be told the terms of going aboard, isn’t it?”

“No,” Gabriel said. “I declined because you cannot let people know how interested you are.”

Angela made a non-committal sound.

“God’s hair, Angela, did that woman get into your head enough to make you forget even the most basic principles we live by?”

“Perhaps I got a bit carried away,” Angela admitted.

“Though,” she continued before Gabriel could say anything else, “I know what I’m doing and you are here to make sure I don’t cross myself.”

“Would you care to share what your motives are?”

“Money,” Angela admitted freely.

“And about the loyalty?”

“Please, Gabriel, who do I look like? Would you swear loyalty to someone just because you’re hoping to get your dick wet?”

“I haven’t met the right person for that yet,” Gabriel evaded a straight answer.

“ _No,_ you wouldn’t. Do you know how I know? Because that is where we are so much alike. Just because I am attracted to her doesn’t mean she’ll get into my head enough to get commitment from me. The only person I will ever commit to is you, and I know I got your loyalty, just the way you have mine.”

“You are assuming a lot of things, right now,” Gabriel said, not looking at Angela.

“I’m not assuming, I _know_. You are still with me, after all. You know why that is?”

“Enlighten me, please,” he said, not without mockery.

“Because we work perfectly with one another. This is the only thing I was meant to commit to.”

“You will change your mind about that, Angela. She is more than just … whatever you think she is. You should have seen your face when you were talking to her.”

“Shut it, Gabriel. I _know._ I know how things are because that is how I want them to be. There is no such thing as destiny, and I _want_ it this way, so I’ll get it this way.”

Gabriel was silent for a long while. “What if that is not how I want eternity to go?”

“You said yourself, you’ll never find someone to accept you as who you are. I know you, Gabriel, I know all of you. You won’t get someone more real than me. Get your quick fucks where you find them and trust me to be your emotional guard,” Angela advised.

“Is that what you are doing?”

“It’s what I am planning on doing, now that we’re actually talking about feelings and all that.”

“We don’t talk about feelings.”

“I learned more things about you in the days since we broke out of prison than in the years prior to that. I would call that talking about feelings.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think!


	3. Because We Are One With the Sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter already? I know, right? Thank you to all of you who commented so far, it really means a lot!
> 
> I don't know shit about English terms for sailing so correct me if you know more than me, please! 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Gabriel!” Anna almost fell down the stairs with how quick she tried to get to the bottom of them.

Gabriel hadn’t even closed the front door completely yet when Anna crashed into him, hugging him tightly. He gritted his teeth, doing his best not to snap at her. It wasn’t her fault that Angela had been winding him up on their way back to the residence.

“Just after you left, Lisa, she lives next door now came over to tell me her husband has seen pirates close by. He was even robbed by them! They took his gold,” Anna almost sobbed into Gabriel’s coat, burying his face against his chest. “I was so worried about you.”

Angela rolled her eyes, barely suppressing a sigh, and stepped around Anna to ascend the stairs, throwing a look back at Gabriel. He caught her eye, silently telling her to keep her mouth shut before he placed a hand on Anna’s back between her shoulder blades.

“They robbed the neighbour?” Gabriel asked with as soothing of a voice as he could muster.

“Yes!” Anna lifted her face from Gabriel’s chest to look at him. “Lisa came over and told me her husband had been out, that little tavern you liked so much, remember? And he is missing one of his coin pouches! It’s not empty, it is missing completely!”

“Does he remember how it happened?”

“One of them ran into him on the street, almost knocked him over. Such violent people. And then they took his money!”

Gabriel nodded slowly, taking his hand off of Anna’s back and carefully taking her forearms to loosen them from around his middle. He placed his hands on her shoulders instead, looking at her and waiting for her to find his eyes.

“We are fine. Nothing happened to us, Anna.”

“But...”

“Anna.” Gabriel looked at the woman intently. “Nothing bad happened to us and you are not to worry about it, do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand. Excuse my uncontrolled behaviour, Gabriel, please,” Anna averted her gaze and tensed under his hands.

Gabriel let his arms sink next to his body, nodding sharply. “We will have breakfast with you, but we will leave coming afternoon.”

“Where will you go?”

“Away,” Gabriel was already stepping around her, picking up a candle from the wall as he used to when he was coming home late at night in another life and set a foot onto the stairs before stopping and turning back to look at her. “Good night, Anna.”

“Good night, Gabriel,” her voice sounded small and weak. She now seemed really interested in the pattern of the wooden floorboards, not raising her gaze from them until Gabriel had disappeared around the upstairs’ corner.

Angela stood opposite of Gabriel’s door, leaning against the wall there, arms crossed in front of her chest. She pointedly wasn’t looking in the direction of the mirror, watching Gabriel instead.

He didn’t pay it any mind, walking past her towards the mirror, effectively blocking it from her view. Her footsteps were light but sounded heavy in his ears nonetheless. Now that there were almost no sounds around he was painfully aware of the headache he was starting to get.

“We should talk about some things,” Angela said, stepping into Gabriel’s space to unlock the door without looking at the mirrored wall.

“Talk to yourself, woman. I am not interested.”

“Gabriel, is this about what I said earlier?”

Gabriel didn’t answer, just waited for her to open the door.

“I know it’s not what you wanted to hear. But everything else would have been a lie. And we don’t lie to each other, right?” The candle was flickering between them, stronger than it should have with the emotions Angela was trying to keep under control.

“You’re giving me a headache.”

“I know you don’t like it, but it’s the truth. Get over it, Gabriel.”

Angela still didn’t back down or make any moves to open the door, so Gabriel reached around her with the hand not holding the candle and pushed it open, admittedly a bit too hard. The thumping noise it made when it hit the wall was making a bright light flash behind Gabriel’s eyes, kicking loose all the stinging pain his body had been building up to the last few days.

“That is exactly what I am talking about. You are not exactly presentable right now, are you?” Angela asked, managing to look happy about his pain while also being her most judging self.

“I manage myself just fine around people,” Gabriel gritted out through his teeth. “I would be much better if you weren’t getting on my nerves all the time.”

Angela leaned in closer, ignoring the warmth of the candle she could feel on her face, taking it from his hand to take it with her in a moment. “Keep telling yourself that. Happy full moon,” she whispered and turned around to step into her room. The candle found its place on the wall next to the door.

She grabbed the door and closed it halfway. She looked at Gabriel for a long moment. “You said you couldn’t control people into doing what you want … then what was that down there?”

Gabriel’s hand shot out, holding the door just where it was as Angela made a move to close it completely. “I didn’t do anything I couldn’t before you screwed me over. She  _ likes  _ me, I could make her do anything.”

Angela smiled now, openly showing how much she enjoyed torturing Gabriel like this. “Not anymore.” She nodded her head to the side slightly, making Gabriel turn into the indicated direction.

Anna was looking at him with big eyes, holding onto the handrail of the stairs, tears streaming down her face. He could see it even in the dim light – between Angela taunting him and his pounding headache he hadn’t even heard Anna climb up the stairs.

Gabriel’s hand sank from the door, but Angela didn’t close it immediately. She wanted to see this.

“I think it is for the best that you leave tomorrow,” Anna said. Her voice was broken up by sobs and so thin Angela had a very hard time making it out. Gabriel however, seemed to understand her just fine.

“That was the plan anyway,” he said simply.

Angela had her eyes fixed onto Gabriel’s face, trying to catch every and any emotion he displayed. Much to her great disappointment he had caught himself within just a few seconds, sounding cold and indifferent.

“Once you take your leave, don’t return, Gabriel. I am begging you, do not.” Anna stepped closer, stopping at his door but trying to get a look at him regardless.

“If that is what you wish from me, so be it,” Gabriel agreed.

It didn’t escape Angela how his shoulders tensed, but she had hoped for a more forceful reaction in some way.

“You know it is not. I would have been happy to have you around, you absolute cad. But you aren’t worthy of my company.” She took another two steps into his direction, head raised high, but she was still sobbing, which was starting to get on Angela’s nerves a lot.

Angela stepped out of the room, just next to Gabriel, and looked at Anna. “Is there anything else you would like to tell him? We would like to go to bed now.”

“You  _ are  _ bedding her. I knew it. What has become of you, Gabriel? Leave and take your harlot with you.”

Angela didn’t skip a beat before stepping forward, set on hurting Anna  _ just a little. _ “What did you-”

She was cut off by a sharp pain in her wrist that shot up her arm like lightning. Gabriel had her wrist in a tight grip, nails digging into the still tender wounds, certainly adding new bruises to the ones still healing.

“Enough,” he hissed, anger boiling underneath his thin act of patience.

Angela found all the fight melting from her as soon as she met his eyes, they seemed to emit a faint glow under the candlelight, sparkling in the same colour her wrist was currently being painted in.

“Go clean up. Sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow,” Gabriel instructed, tugging on Angela’s wrist for emphasis before letting go. Helplessly Angela found herself following as Gabriel had said, leaving the door open behind her as she got her things from her bag.

Anna had been shocked enough for her tears to stop. As she looked at Gabriel in the dim candlelight the terror in her eyes only intensified as he directed his attention onto her.

“Don’t ask any questions, don’t tell anyone. Go to bed, Anna, this isn’t something meant for you.” Gabriel could feel the surge of power that had flared inside of him as he had grabbed Angela, he could feel it eating up all of his resources. Slowly but surely, like when he was healing from a particularly nasty wound – just worse. He had never felt this kind of thing. Maybe he could train it. It scared him that his first impulse was to train this manipulative behaviour, this skill. But it had also scared him when he couldn’t control the healing ability his body had. Nevertheless, he didn’t like this. It felt good. Great, actually, and Gabriel felt consumed by it. And it happened on a  _ full moon _ . On his weakest day. He couldn’t indulge this kind of skill, best forget about it altogether.

It was a kind of power not meant for humans.

Anna turned on her heels, not looking back before disappearing into the direction of the hidden set of stairs leading up into Anna’s private quarters. He listened for the door to her bedroom, then he pulled close the door to the room Angela was staying in and slumped against the wall, pressing his hands against his head.

The stinging pain behind his eyes had turned dull and pulsing; it had been the worst full moon so far, but now? Now it was almost bearable as if his body had  _ needed  _ the flood of power. He would have to think about this some other time, sometime when he wasn’t sensing the heat signature of every living being in the building and in those some way down the street. He needed to get his hands on someone that wouldn’t be missed, and he needed to do so soon.

It didn’t feel like hunger like it did when he was still alive. It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. It started low in his chest, curling like a snake of ice, freezing him from the inside out, crawling up his spine and spreading over the back of his neck and lacing out over his scalp. It would only get worse from here on out.

Gabriel pushed off the wall, dragging his hands across his face one last time before skipping down the stairs quicker than anyone should be able to descend a narrow set of stairs without tripping, not making a sound. The front door swung open and Gabriel was met with the view of a street that looked like it was bathed in day-light.

Gabriel stepped down onto the street, staring at the moon accusingly. He would have loved to fault it for his problems, but he knew who really was to blame. “Should just have let me die,” he whispered to himself, considering dematerializing his body to get around quicker.

He should find a dark alley. He should find a dark street to get around on. Too bad that there was no place not bathed in moonlight.

Gabriel stared at his shadow and scoffed.

His steps carried him towards the debtors’ prison. One of the wall’s towers held many of those that couldn’t pay their debts, and most of them would either die in imprisonment or go on to become serfs. Which was just a fancy word for slaves, anyway.

The streets were as empty as they could be, there wasn’t even a single guard around. They seemed confident in their tower, and they probably could be. There were more important things, Gabriel guessed. Specifically two pirate ships in the harbour.

After another quick look around Gabriel let his body slip into the misting form it seemed to crave so much, slipping through one of the tall, narrow windows no one could have passed through in the flesh. He didn’t bother materializing on the stairs, twirling up to the prison room swiftly and slipping underneath the door. He thanked the stars for the sloppy build of the door, leaving plenty of room to enter through.

The moonlight wasn’t nearly as strong in the tower, the windows weren’t meant to aid suicide so they left little space for the light to seep through. But any light was strong enough for Gabriel, and the less the people saw the better.

Most of them were fast asleep, exhausted from starvation and obvious abuse – whether it was from the guards or other prisoners Gabriel didn’t care. Everyone who was asleep wouldn’t be able to recognize him – though he doubted a normal human could in this light anyway, it was better to be extra careful. Looking back at it he should have just gone into some random house – these people were weakened, not too much life energy left in them anymore. Or maybe he should have slept with Anna. He could have drawn the life energy out of her, it wouldn’t have been the first time he had used sex in such a way. But after what she had heard from him he was sure she wouldn’t have done so willingly. And he wasn’t  _ that  _ kind of a monster.

He shook the thought off of him and looked around while he collected himself, feeling his feet touch the firm stone again. There was shuffling in one corner by a window that caught Gabriel's attention, prompting him to turn that way and stepping there with heavier footsteps than necessary. The last thing he wanted was someone waking up everyone else because they got spooked by being touched suddenly.

“Is anyone awake?” Gabriel asked softly, making his voice sound low and slightly out of it.

“Just go back to sleep, we’ll be fine,” the voice answering sounded a lot like Angela, just sweeter than Angela was ever going to be able to be. Maybe that was just Gabriel’s imagination, though. Oh, this was going to be so satisfying.

“What’s your name?” he asked, kneeling down next to her.

The woman stirred, sitting up a bit and leaning on her elbow to look in Gabriel’s direction, eyes growing big and mouth gaping open slightly.

He could feel the stripe of moonlight going over his face, effectively revealing the patch of teeth in his cheek he didn’t bother to conceal and making him look even paler than he had looked during the day, no doubt.

Blonde. The woman was blonde. Gabriel almost wanted to laugh. “You know what,” he continued, resting his hands in his lap. “Don’t tell me. No need to ruin this.”

“Who are you?” she whispered, not intending to but not able to raise her voice either.

Gabriel hummed. “Either your worst nightmare our your long wished-for saviour, you decide.”

“Are you going to touch me?”

“Just enough to kill you,” he said, and it sounded weirdly reassuring in his own ears.

“I would do anything to escape from here,” she whispered, not looking away from his eyes.

Gabriel let red flash through them for a moment, making the woman flinch but not look away.

He tilted his head to the side slightly, evaluating her. “I am not taking you out of here. I am just going to take your life.”

“Are you taking my soul?”

“Do you deserve to have your soul taken?”

“It can only be better to disappear completely than serve time in purgatory, can it not?” she asked, swallowing audibly and glancing to the side for a moment before her eyes wandered back to Gabriel. “And it will without a doubt be better than in here.”

Gabriel looked around. “Who else should I take with me?”

“No one. They deserve purgatory, they deserve Hell. These aren’t good people and those who are don’t deserve to have their life taken.”

“Now what if I tell you that there is no Hell nor purgatory?”

The woman looked taken aback. “There … there isn’t?”

“If there was, wouldn’t I be there instead of here to give night terrors to people?”

“Perhaps you have a point,” the woman admitted. “Are you going to hurt me?”

He wanted to. He wanted to hurt her more than anyone else, at that moment. Wanted her to be Angela. Wanted to give himself the satisfaction. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it just yet.

“Are you in here because of debt?”

“This is the debtors’ prison,” she reminded him, averting her eyes.

“Which also goes by ‘witches’ tower’, so it’s not always about debt,” Gabriel corrected calmly. “And the way you just reacted tells me that this isn’t, in fact, about debt. So tell me, mitting, what did you do to get in here?”

She was still avoiding his eyes as she answered. “Adultery.”

“That’s all?” Gabriel pressed on, still so so calm.

“I … killed the man to try and hide it,” she finally admitted and flicked a quick look at Gabriel.

Gabriel smiled at her, it almost felt real, even. “See? Don’t you feel so much better now that you’ve said it one last time?”

The smile seemed to catch her off guard. She stared at him, mesmerized by how utterly beautiful the man in front of her suddenly looked. Not even the open wound could take the intensity out of his eyes, how he almost looked proud of her.

Until.

Until his smile got this edge to it that made her shiver. She felt like it was making her run cold, starting at her hands and running up her arms in coils, but as she looked down she was confronted with the reality of things. Tendrils of a black substance that seemed to come from the strange man’s body slipped up her arms. She expected him to go for her chest, instead, they wrapped around her shoulders and just … stayed there, pulling taut and effectively immobilizing her but nothing else.

Gabriel raised one hand, running one finger along her cheek in a soothing motion. “This is the point where maybe you should shut your eyes,” he said with his voice kept low and an edge of sadness in his eyes.

“Because you don’t like to see exactly what you’re doing?” she asked, sounding slightly taunting.

That gave Gabriel all he needed. Just this tiny hint of wit, of being taunted by this woman. “Rather the opposite,” he said before the smile was back on his face.

He slipped his hand lower, targeting her windpipe rather than her blood vessels, making it impossible for her to scream but still giving her enough air to survive. Barely. As long as she didn’t panic.

Which she would right about …  _ now. _

Gabriel heard and  _ felt  _ her heartbeat pick up, mobilising some strength and making it so much easier for Gabriel to access. He felt her pull against the restraints he had put her in, trying to move her arms somewhere useful.

Something warm flashed inside of him at the feeling of her fighting him so suddenly. He leaned in a bit closer, careful to keep enough distance for her to not crash her head into his by some chance. “You want to die, remember? It’s better than being here. With these people. With your guilt. If that is something you  _ can  _ feel,” he sneered.

Her eyes started tearing up, she opened her mouth helplessly and clawed at the tendrils she could get between her fingers. In turn, Gabriel pulled her up higher by her throat and smiled at her. He pulled the tendrils up, slipping them off of her arms, around her shoulders to flow over his hand on her throat.

Her hands shot up as soon as she could move them, holding onto his wrist with one and trying to reach for his face with the other. Before she could reach him he grabbed a hold of her arm with his free hand, twisting it away to the side, tightening his grip on her throat to cut off her air entirely.

When she started twitching under his grip in lack of oxygen he slipped the tendrils further over her lips like the breath she was so desperate to take until it filled all of her mouth, creeping up into her nose.

Then, suddenly, Gabriel loosened his grip almost entirely.

Immediately, her body drew in the deepest breath she could manage, taking the smoke with her, getting barely any of the much-needed oxygen. Her body convulsed, trying to get rid of the strange substance through a coughing fit, but Gabriel was quick to cut off her breathing again.

From the inside out he grabbed the threats of her life, her  _ soul  _ if that’s what one wanted to call it, unthreading it from her body.

Her eyes unfocused, trying so hard to get a clear, sharp image of him but failing miserably. He couldn’t stop watching, grotesquely fascinated by how clearly she was losing herself with every passing second, spurred on by the warmth seeping into his spine from taking it from her oh so slowly. He rarely took this much time, but feeling like this? He should. He should really take his meals for a ride, show them something nice, and take his time.

Too bad his life wasn’t slow like that, and he had to take what he could get. Better hurried than not at all.

Soon he couldn’t find a single flare of life in her anymore. No life, no soul. No trace of what had happened to her. He lowered her to the ground carefully, pulling back all the parts of himself he had lost inside of her and sat back onto his heels to pull her dress over her ankles neatly. In death, she didn’t resemble Angela at all.

And truth be told, it  _ did  _ make him feel better; not just physically, but also emotionally. It definitely had been the right decision to come here.

He closed his eyes and listened to the heartbeats and breathing around him. Some were so weak they didn’t even need him to finish them, they would lose themselves soon enough. Sure, there was a soul to take, but he would choose good healthy life energy over the life force a soul gave any day. He hadn’t learned how to define either yet, he just knew they were different.

One stuck out to him. One wasn’t asleep.

“I know you’re awake.”

“I didn’t see anything,” a hushed voice claimed.

“If you didn’t see anything, then how do you know that there was something to see?”

“I … I heard … she was …”

Gabriel got to his feet, turning into the direction of the voice slowly as not to spook the person that was talking to him.

The whole feeling of the room changed, suddenly it felt less heavy, less dark, less threatening. Gabriel had taken on his human face again, satisfied with the amount of terror he had caused in one night already.

“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.”

“I’m not?”

Gabriel had picked out the exact person now, close by the door this time. He stopped a few steps away from him, looking down at the man. He looked like he had spent half his life inside the tower, which might have been a good fifteen years. If it wasn’t for the bone-structure of his ribcage, he probably could have fit through the windows.

Gabriel asked the man his name and nodded as he was told immediately, pleased.

“If anyone asks, what have you seen here tonight.”

“Nothing.”

“What have you heard here tonight?”

“Nothing.” The answers came quick and sure, with surprisingly steady of a voice.

“How many people in here have you been violent towards?”

“Three.” There was just a slight hint of hesitation.

“Have you started it?” Gabriel listened for any tells of a lie.

“No, never.”

“Good. When they let you out tomorrow, how are you going to support yourself?”

“I- I- I used to cook. For noblemen. I could maybe do that again!”

“Good.” Gabriel slipped a hand into one of his pockets, pulling out a small pouch with coins. “Hide it until you’re out. Or don’t. I don’t care.”

Gabriel ignored the stammering of the man, turning to the very much awake and very much alive man next to him, changing the latter with a quick snap of his neck, drinking in all the energy and soul he could find.

The first man tensed, staring up at Gabriel.

“He would have killed you in a heartbeat.”

The man nodded.

“What have you seen?” Gabriel asked once more.

“Nothing,” the man whispered, clutching the money to his chest.

“Take this chance and use it. Chances are not a daily occurrence,” Gabriel said before smoking back underneath the door, leaving the tower as silent as it had been as if he ever had visited it at all.

He did catch the small ‘thank you’ the man whispered, though.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“How did you sleep?” Gabriel looked up from the book that was resting on the table in front of him, a cup of tea in one hand, leaning back as Angela stepped into the kitchen.

Anna had excused herself with a headache that morning, instructing her maid to take care of the guests. Gabriel had decided to wait for Angela to join him before eating, busying himself with a book about nautical navigation he had read what felt like a lifetime ago. If it was something he would work with, he should refresh his memory as much as possible.

Angela looked very well put together, well rested and strangely … upbeat.

“I slept  _ so  _ well, thank you! I had such a good rest,” she chimed, taking her seat close to Gabriel while the food was brought to the table.

“What are you drinking?” she asked, trying to get a look at Gabriel’s cup.

“Just something to calm my headache.”

“Did the sleep not help?” A crease appeared on Angela’s face, making her look so incredibly concerned for Gabriel.

Margret stepped next to them, her hands folded behind her back. “May I get you something else?”

“No, thank you, Margret. Please check on Anna, we’ll be fine on our own,” Gabriel smiled at her, face matching the bright sunlight streaming through the windows.

Margret curtsied quickly and disappeared around the corner, closing the doors as she left. She had been used to Gabriel wanting his alone time and remembered these things like it had only been a week since he left.

Angela looked at him from behind her spoon full of barley porridge with carrots and onions. It was good food, and cheap as well. Gabriel had informed Margret that they wouldn’t need anything fancy, and this would be better on Anna right now than meat, so she had complied and cooked the easiest breakfast she had ever prepared in that house.

Gabriel stared back at her. “My headache was gone as soon as I had killed the woman that looked exactly like you. But I like a good cup of tea nonetheless.”

“Killing innocent people to not hurt me? You  _ do  _ like me,” Angela smiled.

Gabriel scoffed. “She definitely was  _ not  _ innocent. How is your wrist doing?”

“It’s been better,” Angela admitted, looking down at where her hand was resting on the table, wrapped in a fresh bandage.

“How about taking it as a reminder that I don’t like you enough to let you hurt innocent people over them calling you, an unmarried woman travelling with a man that is not family, a harlot.” Gabriel took a sip of his tea and went back to his book, turning the page pointedly as he felt something flare up in Angela again.

Surprisingly enough, Angela took the hint and shoved the spoon into her mouth instead.

“How are you going to feed on the ship?” she asked after a while.

Gabriel didn’t look up from his book. “Either those who are dying in battle or those I kill in battle.”

“Or you could someone to sleep with,” Angela suggested.

“I’m not doing that for the sake of feeding.”

“You did in the past.”

“That does not mean I have to in the future.”

Angela hummed lowly. “We did find out something interesting about you though, didn’t we?”

“I’m not going to learn how to use it,” Gabriel informed her calmly, seemingly unfazed about what had happened the prior night.

“Yes, you are.”

“No, and do you want to know why?”

“Please enlighten me,” she mocked what Gabriel had said on their way back to the residence.

He set the cup down onto the table and looked at Angela, made sure all of her attention was on him and not on the breakfast. “Because if I did you would learn how to manipulate me into using it, and I don’t feel like aiding your shenanigans like that.”

“So you are refusing to learn a useful resource out of spite about what I said?”

“I wouldn’t call it that. It’s more of a form of keeping my autonomy a bit.”

“What autonomy?”

“That’s what I’m talking about, Angela, you seem to view me as property lately, rather than a companion. And I refuse to aid you in that kind of thinking.”

Angela set down her spoon to fold her hands in her lap and straighten her back. “I do not view you as my property. You are your own person just as much as I am my own, but you cannot deny the sort of dependency between the two of us. I would have a hard time without you and I firmly believe that you would have just as much trouble without me. Please be honest with me, Gabriel. Why are you still with me if you only see me as someone trying to manipulate you into serving me in the most useful way possible? What reason would you have to not just leave me behind, as you clearly would be capable of, looking at the physical aspects only.”

“You can be pleasant company, intelligent company on top of that, and you don’t judge me for who I am. After all, it is your fault what has become of me, so judging it would certainly be a bad move.”  _ I hate it but I would be lonely without you,  _ he thinks.

“You couldn’t have left it at the compliments, could you?” She smiled slightly, picking her spoon back up.

“You are the type of person that always needs a reminder that you’re not infallible, Angela, or you would lose your head in the clouds.”

“See? You  _ understand _ me. I couldn’t find a companion better than you, even if I tried.”

Gabriel sighed and got back to his book.

Angela pushed the empty bowl away from her, the scraping sound it made against the table alerting Gabriel that something had changed. When he looked up from his book Angela was staring at him.

“What is it?” he asked.

“What are the plans for today?”

He blinked slowly at her once, thinking about it. “We need to go to the debtors’ tower, figure out what we’ll take onto the ship and maybe get a new set of clothes, these ones are more for doing business in the harbour than actual sailing.”

“New clothes, okay. Can we go back to the tower though? What are we going to do there?” Angela asked.

“Pay off someone’s debt.”

“And why would we do that?”

“Because I said I would, last night.”

Now it was Angela’s turn to look at Gabriel, blinking once, then a second time. “You cannot remove the blood on your hands from killing someone by doing a good deed for someone else.”

“The stains on my hands will never come off, with neither water nor repentance in any way. What I do will always be with me, I am aware of that. I have learned to  _ like  _ to lay a claim on them in a way no one else ever could.”

Angela was taken aback by the flood of honest information she got suddenly but caught herself quickly. “Then why did you promise him to?”

“Do you know what spoils a good deed?” Gabriel still hadn’t lost his composure. If Angela hadn’t known what they were talking about she would have guessed that he was talking about the book he was reading in a professional discussion, not about murdering someone in cold blood and not feeling grief about it anymore.

“What spoils a good deed, Gabriel?”

There was a knock on the door before Gabriel could give Angela his answer.

“Come on in!” Gabriel called towards the door instead.

It opened with a feeling of certainty and revealed the young man from the painting visible while ascending the stairs to the first floor.

“Good morning, Paulus,” Gabriel greeted without looking at the door.

“Good morning, Magister. How did you know it was me?” Paulus asked, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. He bowed his head at Angela before stepping into Gabriel’s field of view.

“When have I ever not known it was you?” he asked, slightly bemused, smiling up at Paulus.

“That is true,” he admitted. “Do you mind if I take my meal here?” He seemed careful as if he wasn’t sure if he would anger any of them with the question.

“Of course not, it is your home, after all.” Gabriel motioned to the empty seats, indicating his former student to take his pick. “We were about to leave, so you will have time for yourself.”

“I heard you were leaving the rooms, already.”

“Yes, we have found a good offer and we will be taking to the sea for a bit,” Gabriel informed freely.

“I will be honest, I had hoped to pick up classes with you again,” Paulus said, taking his own bowl of porridge from the stove over to the table and sitting across from Gabriel.

“I am sorry to disappoint,” Gabriel said truthfully. “Do you remember all the things I taught you?”

“I tried to remember most of them, Magister.”

Gabriel nodded once. “Do you recall what I told you would spoil any good deed?”

“That was not part of the regular lessons, Magister, it was something you insisted on.”

“Is it something I told you and enforced it in a way that you remembered it even when I was not around?” Gabriel asked stern but with patience clearly resonating in his voice.

“Yes, Magister,” Paulus was quick to say.

“Then answer the question.”

“It will be spoiled if the reason for it is any motive of personal gain.”

“And why is this the case?”

“Something truly good is done for free and without expectancy of repayment or a favour in return.”

“Good,” Gabriel praised, “Does that mean everything done with the expectancy of repayment is bad or evil?”

“We never talked about that,” Paulus said not without caution.

“Are you unable to use your own head to answer a question?”

“No, Magister,” he hesitated for a moment, “In a way. It is necessary for human society and useful to view actions as trades, but it then loses it’s right to be viewed as a good deed, as it is not done simply for the sake of helping someone else.”

“Very good,” Gabriel praised again.

Angela listened to the interaction intently. “If the receiver of the good action insists on returning it at a later point in time, does that invalidate the ‘good deed’ status of the action?” she asked, directed at Paulus.

“No miss, someone else does not influence the motives of the giver of the good deed by offering something in return unprompted,” Paulus answered obediently, looking at Angela.

Angela smiled at him and tilted her head a bit. “You are one bright pupil. I understand why Gabriel liked to be here.”

“Thank you, miss,” Paulus offered a small if a slightly uncertain smile. When there was nothing else addressed at him he started eating.

Angela looked at Gabriel for a few heartbeats. “This sounds a lot like it would be part of one of your philosophy classes. Are you sure that this isn’t something that was on his curriculum?”

Gabriel smiled back, something familiar glinting in his eye. “Not officially, no.”

“He would do well in it,” Angela said, sounding almost accusing.

“He  _ is  _ doing well in it. I just didn’t need to waste his mother’s money by giving him classes on it. I gave him grounds to good debating and thinking by simply raising him on a high standard.”

“I would have charged for that,” Angela said, relaxing in her chair from where she had slightly been leaning forward.

“I know,” Gabriel assured her, draining his cup and setting it next to her empty bowl.

He looked at Paulus for a moment. “We better get going. Thank you for your time, and thank your mother again for letting us use the rooms on such short notice. We will be gathering our things and leave.”

“I hope you will find what you’re looking for at sea, Magister,” Paulus said with so much honest enthusiasm that for a moment, Angela wanted to reconsider her choices in life.

She immediately caught herself at it and scolded herself on the inside. Teaching-life was  _ not  _ for her and it certainly wasn’t for Gabriel anymore either.

Still, it took her a while to get over how different Gabriel had been around the young man. Gone was his moodiness and the slightly glooming uneasy feeling his aura was giving her. It had given way to a certain way of directing authority, yet openness and the feeling of utter assurance. Had that been the Gabriel she had to travel with every day she would have tried to get rid of him within the first week. He would have annoyed her to no end with his good intentions and praise.

There was a kind of authority that didn’t leave disobedience as an option and then there was …  _ that _ . She didn’t like  _ that _ . She would choose the ‘It’s fine if you say no say hello to the afterlife while you’re at it’-authority of the ‘man with the damned face’ over the well-meaning teacher in a heartbeat.

A hand waving in her face made Angela snap back to reality. She looked around a bit startled. She found herself in front of Gabriel’s bookshelf, staring off into space while she had been thinking.

Gabriel looked at her with a slightly bemused expression on his face.

“I was thinking,” Angela said dismissively.

“I could tell. Would you like to share what managed to take you so far away?”

“Not really.”

“So it was about me?”

“Why would I think about you?” Angela asked without missing a beat. “It’s bad enough that I have to be around you all day, I’m not taking you into my thoughts as well.”

Gabriel laughed silently, shoulders shaking, but didn’t comment any further on it.

“So do you want to take it?”

“Huh?” Angela asked dumbly.

“The book you’re holding,” Gabriel said patiently.

Oh. Right. “Yes.” Angela strode over to where her new bag was resting on Gabriel’s bed, already holding a few books and the new dresses she had gotten. She was wearing pants, a quite unusual thing for her, not feeling the skirts around her ankles. She wouldn’t admit it but she was excited for wearing them on the streets.

Gabriel had exchanged his expensive robes for something simple, and as he said, easy to work in. He still bought them in all black though, that was just part of his personality at that point. Angela had asked whom he was mourning once, as a joke, he told her ‘his victims’. She never asked again.

Gabriel had decided that they should take whatever books they wanted to keep, as he didn’t trust Anna not to burn everything he left behind. He himself had mainly concentrated on navigation, cartography and mathematics, while Angela had touched every single book that could help her in her knowledge about medicine. After all, they always liked being well-prepared, and researching for a job they were about to take on seemed like a good idea.

“Is there anything else you would like to take with you?” Gabriel asked as he tugged his own bag closed.

“No, I’m all done,” Angela said.

Gabriel slung his bag over his shoulder but as he moved to take that of Angela as well she quickly dragged it out of reach, closing it up and slinging it over her own shoulder.

“I’m wearing pants now, I don’t need to put on the helpless woman act anymore,” she informed him.

“Let’s be honest here, you’re not putting on an act of helplessness, you just like when other people do things for you.” There was a knowing grin on Gabriel’s face.

“I’m not admitting to that.”

“You don’t have to,” Gabriel assured and stepped past her out of the room. He went to the stairs without a look back at the room.

When Angela reached the front door Gabriel was already holding it open. There were none of the residents around – disappointing, really. Angela would have liked to cause one last scandal in this house, but sometimes there are things you can’t have.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The harbour wasn’t far from where Anna lived. They still walked past a considerable amount of people on their way there and there were two kinds of reactions they were getting. The first one was a sense of disbelieve and the scandalised looks Angela had wanted so badly. The other and this took her a moment to figure out, was something akin to fear. It quickly dawned on her where this was coming from, though. There was word of pirates in the city, and their women didn’t wear skirts. So clearly the two of them  _ had  _ to be part of the ship’s crew, why else would she dare to walk the streets like this?

There was no missing the two ships, twins but for the names clearly visible in bright white paint. The first ship they passed was the  _ Sturmjäger _ . No one paid them much mind, until suddenly Moira leapt over the gap right in front of them, with a kind of fluidity and elegance to her movement that was hard to believe.

Gabriel smiled at her brightly, looking over to the other woman, still leaning against the gunwale Moira had leapt from. She waved at them with one hand in a fanning motion of her fingers, raising one eyebrow at them. “Are these the sorcerers you were talking about?”

“Indeed,” Moira confirmed. “So we  _ do  _ see each other again.”

“I told you so,” Gabriel brought his attention back to Moira, pointedly ignoring the accusation the other woman had made, that had apparently originated from Moira in the first place.

She hummed in a way that almost sounded excited. “Plans have been made of both of you joining the Walküre, though I did object. Apparently, there is no point of having two sailing masters on one and none on the other ship. How surprising.” Her voice was sober enough that Gabriel almost questioned if it had been a joke. “I also couldn’t convince them of just sending our old sailingmaster onto the Walküre,” she sighed, exasperated.

“Such cruelty, how will you ever live through it?” Gabriel asked, voice just as devoid of emotion as Moira’s had been.

It earned him a chuckle from her. “I knew I was right about you. We’ll get time to talk soon enough. Go on, you’re being expected.” She turned to Angela, looking less happy about seeing her for some reason. There was this sudden lack of sympathy again. Gabriel tried not to dwell on it too long since it seemed to be mutual. “Especially you. You might find yourself enjoying the captain’s quarters.”

“That seems to bother you,” Angela said, with faked empathy so theatrical that Gabriel thought it might kill her from the inside out.

“Not at all. But for the poor quartermaster’s sake, please remember that his quarters are in earshot of the captain’s. I like him with his psyche intact,” Moira said slowly.

The woman still watching them chuckled. “Some action would do him no harm. Let him listen in a little.”

Moira rolled her eyes, turning to the woman. “Shouldn’t you be supervising the crew?”

The woman grinned at Moira. “You  _ are  _ the crew.”

“I swear to the Gods Olivia, you will be the death of me. Did anyone ever tell you that you were too nosy?”

“You do, all the time. Just to point this out though, in my position as boatswain it is my duty to know what is happening on our captain’s ship.”

Moira raised her eyes skyward for a moment. “That woman won’t be happening on ‘our captain’s ship’, making it not your responsibility.”

“Not yours either,” Olivia responded with obvious joy.

Moira turned to leave, but not without one last exasperated look in Gabriel’s direction. “I never claimed it was,” she said. Gabriel was sure that it hadn’t been directed at him, but as Moira was already walking off he didn’t have time to question it either.

“You’re being expected,” Olivia told Gabriel, nodding towards the Walküre.

Gabriel spotted the young captain, Fareeha, walking the gangplank onto the pier, choosing the less dangerous way of stepping off of the ship.

But also, Gabriel was convinced that now that he had seen Moira leap off of the ship like that there could be no one ever matching the elegance and impressiveness.

Angela had spotted Fareeha as well, turning from Olivia with a quick bow of her head as a thank you, making her way over to the woman. She still claimed to just put on an act for Fareeha, instead of actually having fallen for her. If that was the case, Gabriel thought, she was convincing enough to even fool him. He was still very curious where this was going to go.

“See you around,” he nodded at Olivia, earning him a sharp smile and another of those one-handed waves, before following Angela over to where she was standing obviously too close to Fareeha to just be friendly.

“Gabriel! I am forever grateful the two of you chose to join us!” Fareeha greeted him with a lot of enthusiasm, though definitely toned down from the amount of joy she had displayed for Angela.

“Thank you, captain. Or do you prefer Fareeha?”

“Either is fine in your position,” she said, smiling at him.

She was something else. If Angela broke her heart that would be a whole new level of stupid of her; but it wasn’t Gabriel’s place to judge anyway.

“You will be formally introduced to the crew once we are ready to leave the harbour. Until then I am happy to welcome you on the Walküre. Usually, this is where I would hand you off onto my quartermaster to take care of you, but he is unavailable right now. You also have a special status, so don’t mind if I do the necessities myself,” Fareeha smiled.

Gabriel smiled at Fareeha good-naturedly. “You meant to say  _ Angela  _ has a special status.”

Fareeha blushed under her dark tan. “What are you implying, Gabriel?” she managed to sound somewhat authoritative, but nothing close to strong enough to compete with the general calm authority Gabriel just had hanging around him.

“That a physician is more special than a common sailing master, of course,” he answered, smile not wavering. He ignored the deathly glare Angela was sending him.

“Oh!” Fareeha seemed to shake her blush off in a second. “Yes, of course. It’s an honour to have you on board, Angela, but of course, we will be way better off with than without you, Gabriel.”

“Of course,” Gabriel repeated, not commenting any further.

Angela tried with one more warning look, but Gabriel just shrugged at her.

“In a time like this, what is your quartermaster so occupied with that he can’t attend to his duties?” Gabriel asked, keeping the sound of his voice neutral, upbeat at best.

Fareeha smiled at him before making her way back to the gangplank, turning her head slightly as she spoke. “He is currently acting in my stead with the city. Unfortunately, as women, the city council refuses to take us entirely serious, no matter how many of them we kill. So Reinhardt and my own quartermaster are there to negotiate some of the terms of the letters of marque we were given.”

“If they are negotiating terms that means that you have followed the terms up until now?” Gabriel assumed.

“It simply means that they haven’t  _ caught  _ us not following them,” Fareeha corrected with a lopsided grin as she started giving them a tour of the ship.

They started at the bow, through the crew’s quarters, storage and cable store, working their way to the stern, where the captain’s and the quartermaster’s cabins were located. They ended up sitting down in Fareeha’s cabin with some wine for each of them.

“I would love to give you a complete talk on the codex I was talking about last night, unfortunately, I don’t know it by heart,” Fareeha admitted, looking careless.

“Shouldn’t you of all people know it best?” Angela teased.

“Not really. That’s what I have a quartermaster for.”

“Would you mind giving me some quick information on who is important on a ship? I would love to pretend that I know, but I have never done any actual work on any ship, ever,” Angela admitted, looking somewhat sheepish. It was such a bewildering look on her, Gabriel had to actively stop himself from raising his eyebrows at it.

“Of course! You’re here for other skills you possess, not for your sailing, after all,” Fareeha said soothingly. “The highest position after the captain is the quartermaster. When I am not around, he is in charge, and he is basically my right hand when I am there to make decisions.”

“Aren’t decisions made by all of the crew?” Angela asked quickly to catch Fareeha before she began her next sentence.

“Usually that is true, the company decides by the principle of a majority vote. However, as soon as an engagement in battle is started, all control of command is held by the captain. I also have a special vote on punishment.”

Fareeha waited for Angela to nod her understanding before continuing. “The quartermaster has rights to carry out punishments for a failure of following commands or the codex and additionally it is his responsibility that enough rations of food and water are taken.”

“So, he’s like the captain but paid less and without command in battle unless you are not around?” Angela tried.

“Yes,” Fareeha confirmed. “Then there is the sailing master, the role Gabriel is going to fill from now on. His main duty will be navigation. I already instructed my dearest boatswain to support you as needed, especially during the first weeks”, she said, smiling at Gabriel.

“That is much appreciated,” Gabriel said with a warm smile.

“Which brings us to the next position, that of the boatswain. He reports to me or my quartermaster, supervises the crew and will be assigned special positions as needed. Anchoring and provisions are his responsibility anyway, and supporting in navigation won’t hurt him.”

“Are you hinting at him being difficult to work with?” Gabriel asked, somewhat cautious now.

Fareeha made a face that Gabriel couldn’t quite read. “I wouldn’t say  _ difficult _ . He’s surely challenging. He has a strong mind of his own, but he can follow orders when needed. Since you have experience as a teacher I am sure you will get along with him just fine.” The expression on her face and her words were as incongruent as they could be.

Gabriel sighed on the inside but decided to accept his fate for now. If the boatswain died of sudden heart failure he was sure Angela wouldn’t expose him.

“There is one more position I’d like to tell you about. There are a few gunners on board, but our master gunner is … special. It truly is the only position we could fit him in. I swear to the Heavens that man is immune to fire and explosions, no one should be able to survive what he lived through. Gunners command and operate the canons, that’s it. Are there any specific occupations you want to know something else about?”

Angela pursed her lips for a moment while thinking. “Is there someone cooking on board?”

“We don’t have a designated cook, but we’ll always find someone to feed us if there is something else than dried bread on board,” Fareeha promised with a smile.

Angela nodded slowly. “Does my work here differ from that of a physician on land?”

“You are expected to fight or to do your work in the midst of battle. Other than that … I wouldn’t say so.”

Angela nodded again. “That will not be a problem, at all. As Gabriel has already told you, I am definitely capable of defending myself. And of being an offending force if needed.”

“That will definitely be tested soon. Just in case I am not getting too attached just yet, I’m sure you understand.”

Gabriel raised one eyebrow at the badly masked lie but kept his thoughts to himself. Instead, he put it into a simple question. “I am guessing we will be assigned a bed in the crew’s quarters?”

“We have beds close to each other if you fancy those. There might open up some other option, though,” she glanced at Angela quickly.

“I am aware that that is not an option that is going to open up for  _ me, _ but I am assuming I will find a suitable bed by simply talking to the rest of the crew, am I mistaken?”

The blush crept back onto Fareeha’s cheeks, but she kept her chin up this time. “That will work, indeed.”

She shuffled some things around on the ark desk, finding what she had been looking for, apparently and holding it up so she could read it herself. “Would you like me to read the codex to you or would you like to read it for yourself?”

“Perhaps you should read it to us to make sure we have actually understood all of it,” Gabriel said.

Angela elbowed his arm. “You are not teaching, show some respect.”

Gabriel just shot Angela a plain look, Fareeha ignored the interaction, placing the paper in front of them instead.

“I trust you will read it completely and ask any questions you might have.”

Gabriel lowered his eyes onto the heavy piece of paper. The writing on it was truly skilful and almost rivalled Angela’s.

>   
>  I. Every person has a vote in all affairs decided and an equal title to fresh provisions and strong liquors.
> 
> II. The captain is to have one share and one half; the quartermaster, physician, sailing master, gunner and boatswain one share and one quarter. No prey, no pay.
> 
> III. If any person shall offer to run away or act in cowardice in time of engagement or keep any secret from the company he shall be marooned with one bottle of powder, one bottle of water, one small arm and one shot.
> 
> IV. Anyone found guilty of abuse against the company shall suffer the punishment the captain and the majority see fit.
> 
> V. If any items of worth are found on board of any prey and the finder does not deliver them to the quartermaster within twelve hours time they shall suffer the punishment the captain and the majority see fit.
> 
> VI. No person is to game cards or dice for money on board, the acts of these shall be punished by cut of the share.
> 
> VII. Every person must keep their weapons clean and fit for service, failure to do so shall be punished by cut of the share and any other punishment the captain and the majority see fit.
> 
> VIII. If anyone is found guilty of stealing from the company this shall be punished with marooning or being shot.
> 
> IX. Every person shall keep their watch during the day; at the hour of nine in the evening every one shall retire from gaming and drinking in order to attend their respective station for the night.  
>    
> 

“What is marooning supposed to be?” Angela asked as soon as she was done reading through the list.

“Leaving someone on an … island. Just anywhere abandoned, really.”

Angela nodded slowly, quickly reading over the entire thing once more. “This is all?”

“That covers the most important things, doesn’t it?”

“I suppose so.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Gabriel had been instructed on what course the crew had decided on in the morning, was given access to the (truly terrible) nautical charts on board and had taken a seat in the sun, close to the helm to get accustomed to what he would have to work with from now on.

“I’m going to have to rework all of these,” Gabriel said to no one in particular, grabbing for one of the books he had brought with him to find a similar map.

“Didn’t know we had a table up here,” a smooth voice dragged Gabriel out of his thoughts.

It took him a moment to collect himself, but first impressions were important so he quickly pulled himself together and looked up to where the voice had come from, standing from his chair.

The man he was faced with looked somewhere around Angela’s age and around Gabriel’s height. His eyes had something mischievous Gabriel already  _ knew  _ would give him more of a headache than he deserved, but he was fairly clean and holding himself in a way that Gabriel could respect him easily.

“Captain’s special permission,” Gabriel said, running a hand along the table they had carried up earlier.

The man leaned in closer, whispering in a fake conspiracy. “I think she just wants some alone time with that pretty blonde.”

“Of course, if I had stayed any longer I’m sure she would have slaughtered me.”

“The captain or the blonde?”

“Both?” Gabriel offered, earning him a laugh from the man. “Her name is Angela, by the way.”

“I figured that out of the two of you she was.”

“So you know who I am, as well.” Gabriel assumed.

“The captain spent all night talking about one  _ Angela, _ that was all I had to listen to. I’m not quartermaster on this thing, I shouldn’t  _ need  _ to listen to the captain talk like that.”

“Where was the quartermaster then?”

“Made himself scarce. Sleeping. I don’t know. The important thing is that he left me alone listening to Fareeha talk about a woman she had met  _ once _ .”

“Sounds like he’s failing at his job,” Gabriel said with amusement in his voice. “Sleeping? Maybe you should vote to replace him.”

“Maybe I  _ should  _ do that.” The man looked like he thought about this proposition before smiling at Gabriel.

Gabriel returned the smile openly.

“So what is your name?” The man asked.

“It’s Gabriel,” he volunteered freely. “But you  _ did  _ already know that.”

“I did?” The look on the man’s face made it clear that he did, in fact, already know.

“I’m guessing you wanted to see if I really wasn’t afraid of telling my own name to someone I have just met,” Gabriel assumed. By the man’s reaction, he immediately knew that he was right. “So are you going to tell me your name, as well?”

“I will not.”

“I didn’t think you would.”

“Why?”

“Because when it comes to this kind of thing sailors are the biggest cowards.”

“I wouldn’t call being careful cowardice.”

Gabriel nodded slightly. “Perhaps not. So shall I call you Jesse or do you prefer something else?”

Something in the man’s face moved, but he controlled it surprisingly fast. “How did you know?”

“Your name?”

Jesse nodded. “And that I was aware of yours, already.”

“Fareeha mentioned having instructed her boatswain to help me in any way needed, that made me believe she had used my name towards said boatswain. When she helped me carry the table up here she mentioned your name. She also said you could be challenging to work with.”

“She is not incorrect, but what does that have to do with my name?” Jesse squinted his eyes just a tiny fraction, but Gabriel caught it anyway.

“It took me all of one look at you to know that you are not the kind of student every teacher is after. From there on it was just some assuming and taking tiny chances.”

Jesse’s face lit up suddenly. “We’ll get along just wonderful, Gabriel.”

Gabriel hoped so, but he didn’t feel the need to comment on it. Instead, he sat down onto his chair again motioning for Jesse to take the free chair.

“So you used to teach?” Jesse asked, obviously debating to kick his feet up on the table.

Gabriel looked at him pointedly, then at his feet and back at him again, making Jesse stop dead in his tracks, relaxing back in the chair instead.

“You used to teach, I see,” Jesse mumbled, trying to make himself comfortable.

Gabriel pulled the book he had wanted to look at earlier closer again, turning a few pages. “How much do you know about cartography?” He asked conversationally.

Jesse hummed while thinking, leaning one elbow on the table to get a closer look at the charts Gabriel had left the book at. “Nothing, really. I don’t usually write down stuff when I work.”

“How much navigation have you done?”

“Not as much as maybe I should have,” he admitted.

“Do you know how to read?”

“I read better than I write.”

“Like most,” Gabriel said in a tone of voice that sounded soothing almost. “Do you care to improve either of them?”

“Sure. I’ll practise either if you’d like to throw some helpful words in my direction.”

Gabriel smiled. “We’ll get you there. Whom did you learn with so far?”

“Our captain's mother has had a somewhat motherly role in my life and to her basic literacy is a base requirement to take on a specific position on the ship.”

“That is not in the codex, however.”

“You would be correct there, but the crew agreed on that requirement nonetheless.”

Gabriel nodded slowly, staring at the book blankly. “You don’t seem so difficult to work with, after all.”

“Don’t celebrate victories before you have left the battlefield,” Jesse laughed. His laugh was clear and slightly louder than Gabriel had expected, but it was charming still.

“Why do you think this so funny?” Gabriel asked, curious.

“You would be the first person to claim I am not a challenge to work with.”

“If you are such a challenge to work with why are you still allowed to be part of this crew?”

Jesse bit the inside of his cheek, seemingly having to think about that for a moment. “I am reliable when it counts and I’m a pleasure to work _ under _ . I just tend to be a bit … prone to talking back … when working under other people.”

“So the real nightmare is supervising you,” Gabriel said.

Jesse hummed in agreement and looked at the book Gabriel had tried to consult. “Where did this come from? I’ve never seen it before.”

“Do you know all the books the ship is holding?”

“I’m not  _ that  _ into books, to be frank.”

“I did bring this one, however,” Gabriel said, pushing it over to Jesse slightly. “It is one I acquired in Lübeck, on the last occasion that I worked there.”

“So you don’t like the charts we have aboard?” Jesse asked with what sounded like real interest.

“Not liking them is an understatement. They are truly awful in how bad they are. I am fascinated by how much knowledge of the waters you all seem to have, yet no one ever bothers to put them on paper. If we set course simply by using these charts, without consulting the knowledge of the crew collected over the years of sailing these waters … well. I am assuming we would never get where we wanted to.”

Jesse met Gabriel’s eye. “You’re far more passionate about this than your predecessors.”

“Perhaps they had more practical experience to rely on.”

“I’m here for the experience. Are you going to construct new charts, then?”

Gabriel nodded. “I am planning to. I will take the notes from the books into consideration, but seeing the routes myself will help greatly.”

“Shall we see if we can construct a good course for tonight?”

“I understand that would be our task right about now,” Gabriel agreed.

Jesse looked out at where the harbour opened up into the sea. “The wind is going to pick up, we’ll meet it almost head-on. Nothing worthy of being called a storm, but we will want to take that into consideration before leaving.”

“So what do you suggest?”

 

* * *

 

Night had already started falling when Angela and Fareeha emerged from the captain’s quarters. They met Gabriel and Jesse where they were sitting and talking, Jesse obviously invested in what he was trying to teach Gabriel. Gabriel was a quick learner, Angela knew this all too well, and he was a pleasure to work with while being introduced to new things.

So he was the exact opposite of Jesse if what Fareeha had said held true. Apparently, they had been growing up on a ship together ever since Jesse had run from his family. Fareeha was rather fond of him, it seemed.

Fareeha stepped behind Jesse to look at Gabriel head-on, waiting for him to look up at her before speaking. “It is getting late, and as my quartermaster is still being held up in the city we will proceed with the introductions to the crew. They are getting together as we speak, so shall we go meet them?”

“Are we going to leave without him?” Gabriel asked slightly concerned, but rising from his seat nonetheless.

“I would never leave a man as good as him behind,” Fareeha assured with a small smile. “But as soon as introductions are made we can prepare to set sail without the expectation of disturbance.”

“That seems wise,” Gabriel said, inclining his head slightly.

As they descended the stair Gabriel looked at the men and women that had gathered curiously. He spotted Moira and Olivia in the crowd and the sheer amount of people lead him to believe that these were the crews of both ships.

“As decided by the vote of the majority this morning,” Fareeha began with a voice loud enough that it almost startled Angela, “we have taken in a physician and a new sailing master. As you may remember they go by the names of Angela and Gabriel.” Fareeha indicated to each of them as she said their names.

She turned to look at Gabriel. “I am sure you will have a chance to chat with everyone at some point.” After receiving a nod from Gabriel she turned to look at Angela. “You have been introduced to the codex, and you will report to me or my quartermaster whom you will meet soon, hopefully.”

“Maybe they killed him,” Jesse mumbled where he was standing in the crowd, close to Gabriel. Gabriel was sure that only the stern looking man next to him was supposed to hear it. He gave Jesse an unimpressed look and directed his attention back to the front.

There were some questions asked, were they  _ actually  _ connected to sorcery? (Gabriel only smiled at this, while Angela cocked one eyebrow with a self-assured ‘care to find out’?) What was their experience like? (“Sufficient to be hired, apparently”) And would they have to be due to snoring? The last one was unsuspected but negated.

When Gabriel climbed back up to his table he was happy that he had secured the chats by laying his books on top of them. Where they had been standing it hadn’t been so obvious, but back up by the helm the wind had picked up considerably, just as Jesse had suspected.

“Should we carry the table back down?” Gabriel suggested as Jesse appeared close behind him.

“That might be for the best,” Jesse agreed, already grabbing both of the chairs while Gabriel gathered his papers, carefully taking them down first.

They carried the table down last, each grabbing one of the short sides, and Jesse yelled a few instructions over his shoulder as the questions came flying at him. From there on out everyone seemed to know what they had to do, every single hand was being used with precision and meaningfulness that made Gabriel look on in awe for a moment. This was probably the best working crew he had ever seen on any ship.

“Would you follow me for a moment?” Jesse requested as they had put the table back town into one of the rooms that held four beds in them.

“Certainly,” Gabriel nodded curtly and fell into step next to Jesse, obviously going towards the captain’s cabin.

Jesse knocked on the door and opened it without missing a beat, even before Fareeha could invite him in.

She stood from where she was sitting behind her desk as she saw him, looking just slightly annoyed. “You will never learn, will you?”

“I don’t think so,” Jesse grinned.

“One day you will see more than you bargained for, Jesse, and then you will be sorry.”

“You are assuming that you have more than I want to see, captain, that is not the case.”

“You are rotten, Jesse, I should just throw you overboard,” Fareeha sighed, obviously amused.

“I could kill him for you, without a trace of it being unnatural,” Angela offered, not looking up from the book she was currently writing in. The ink stains on her fingers indicated that she had been at it for quite some time.

Gabriel snorted a laugh.

That made Angela look up. “What?”

“ _ You  _ would do that?” Gabriel grinned.

Angela looked back down continuing the word she had been writing. “Perhaps I would give  _ instructions _ ,” she agreed.

Fareeha and Jesse had matching faces of amusement with the slightest hint of concern. Now Gabriel could see all too well how they both worked as siblings.

“Remember our talk about loyalty?” Gabriel was quick to remind Fareeha, making the tension melt from her shoulders which in turn seemed to calm Jesse. So much trust in them, it was precious.

“What was this about?” Fareeha turned back to Jesse.

“Right!” Jesse said as if he had forgotten why they had come there for a moment. “You know how we have a free officer’s room?”

Something around her eyes tensed as she looked at Jesse. “Yes,” she said slowly, looking at Gabriel. “Didn’t  _ you  _ plan on changing rooms to in there, so you wouldn’t be murdered in your sleep?”

“I don’t mind sharing. He won’t kill me, he  _ likes  _ me too much.”

“Is he aware of that?” Fareeha asked, amused.

Jesse shrugged one shoulder. “Not yet.”

“So you want to offer it to Gabriel?”

“Yeah.”

“Why doesn’t he just take your place?”

“We both know he doesn’t do well with new people.”

“He doesn’t do well with you, either.”

“He  _ pretends  _ he doesn’t do well with me,” Jesse assured. “And three people per room are annoying, you know that.”

“I just don’t want you to regret anything later on.”

“I won’t,” he assured again.

Fareeha nodded. “Gabriel, take your things with you, and all the books you will find useful. Jesse will help you carry them.”

Gabriel nodded and followed as Jesse started picking up the books he had carried inside just a few minutes prior. As they were on their way back to the crew’s quarters his curiosity got the better of him. “There are four beds per room.”

“There are, indeed,” Jesse confirmed, waiting for Gabriel to step down into the ship first. It was well lit, the rooms better than what could be called the hallway, but Gabriel’s eyes turned it into daylight-like quality anyway.

“Then how are three too many?”

“We have enough space to only put two per room because our crews are smaller than those the Hanse puts on their ships. It’s not exactly privacy but the closest we will get to it.”

“And privacy aids in building morale,” Gabriel assumed.

“A lot,” he confirmed. “Take a left.”

Gabriel found himself in a small room, one bed, one desk with a chair and a bookshelf. This was a luxury he hadn’t expected.

“Welcome to the life of a minor officer,” Jesse said with something in his voice Gabriel would place in the realm of amusement. He slid past Gabriel to put the books down onto the table.

“Aren’t  _ you _ one of those?” Gabriel asked.

“He prefers to make me repent my sins by annoying me every night.” The dark haired man Jesse had talked to earlier was suddenly leaning against the door frame. He looked tired but also somewhat fond of Jesse, and Gabriel guessed Jesse had been right about what he had said to Fareeha.

The man had something about his aura Gabriel had learned to recognise as magic, the kind Angela carried. It made him curious but also gave him the feeling of needing to be careful.

“Are you going to introduce yourself?” Gabriel prompted, keeping his face on the good-natured side.

“Are  _ you _ going to introduce yourself?” the man gave back the question, with slight amusement in his voice.

“By name? To you? No,” Gabriel said, earning him something he counted as a smile.

“So you are quite attentive.” It sounded like praise to Gabriel. Usually, he was the one using this kind of voice on other people. “Then you will excuse me when I refuse to do so myself.”

“Of course,” Gabriel confirmed, holding the man’s gaze for another moment before Jesse stepped into his field of view again.

“His name is Hanzo.”

The man nodded once and Gabriel looked between them for a moment. “I’ll get someone to give me their own name eventually,” he said.

The two men looked at each other, obviously having a silent conversation, coming to an agreement just as Gabriel heard a new set of footsteps descend to the quarters and a “Jesse, are you hiding in here?”.

“If you play your cards right you will maybe do that sooner than you expect,” Hanzo told him uncrossing his arms and straightening from where he had leaned against the door.

Jesse peeked his head out of the room, looking down the narrow hallway to where the voice had come from. “I was convinced they had killed you by now.”

So the quartermaster seemed to have arrived, at last.

“That is not as amusing as you think, Jesse,” the voice sounded tired but still managed to have something upbeat to it, the footsteps slowing down as they came closer to the door.

The man came to a stop next to where Hanzo had moved so he wasn’t blocking the door anymore, looking at Jesse but shifting his eyes to Gabriel as soon as he noticed him.

_ God’s nails,  _ did those eyes rival the sea.

Gabriel controlled his own expression before it could betray his excitement.

Jesse looked at the blond man for a moment before nudging Hanzo in the side. “We should go get some work done.”

“I’m not working now, I’m night-watching later,” Hanzo objected before he caught Jesse’s eye. “Right. We should find something to make ourselves useful.” He said slowly, turning to leave first.

Jesse followed immediately after him, not without mumbling a “he’s so your type” to the quartermaster.

A grin spread on Gabriel’s face as he watched the blond man blush to the tips of his ears. “I’m Gabriel, it is good to finally meet you.”

The man in front of him nodded. “Likewise,” he managed a bright smile, matching what Gabriel felt on the inside in intensity.

Damn it he was adorable.  _ If you play your cards right you will maybe do that sooner than you expect,  _ Gabriel heard Hanzo’s voice in his head again. He looked the other man up and down, taking his time as he dragged his eyes over every patch of exposed skin he could find. He could hear the man’s heartbeat pick up, the heat radiating from him even more than before. If he played his cards right ...

“Now how about you tell me your name?” he said in that calm voice that didn’t leave any space for debate, pairing it with a smile that was maybe slightly too sharp, too predatory.

The man confirmed that it had been  _ just  _ the right thing to do, as he breathed out “Jack,” voice just slightly catching in his throat. “My name is Jack.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I emotionally hurt you so far, I am sorry. I am hurting too if it is any consolation.
> 
> As always comments are much appreciated!


End file.
